Environmental Law Clinic (2009-2010 - Spring Quarter only)

The School of Law established an Environmental Law Clinic in 2003. In its first six years, the Environmental Law Clinic quickly gained a reputation for excellence for: (1) effective advocacy on behalf NGOs, nonprofits, governmental entities, and those who would otherwise not have been able to afford representation or have ready access to the judicial system; and (2) training the next generation of environmental lawyers and leaders. Whether problem-solving, or advocating for their clients in the courts, the legislature, or behind the scenes in other arenas, Clinic students represented real clients, under the supervision and guidance of a full-time faculty member, in important environmental and natural resource matters.

In 2009, the Clinic won the Clinical Legal Education’s national annual award for excellence in a clinical project for its groundbreaking work relating to the Exxon Valdez reopener clause--work that culminated in the Emmy-award winning film The Third Trustee. The film documents the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on Alaska Natives, and powerfully drew attention to these effects before the deadline for reopening the Exxon Valdez settlement passed.

Despite the success of the Clinic, a vital source of private support was not renewed; as a result, the Clinic is being offered in reduced form during the 2009-10 academic year. As the University launches its new Environmental College, the Law School is seeking to strengthen its environmental law offerings and to restore the Clinic to full and ongoing operations.

Environmental Law Clinic in the News

• UW Environmental Law Clinic Wins National Award
  The University of Washington School of Law's Environmental Law Clinic has won the Clinical Law and Education Association's Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project Award for the Clinic's groundbreaking work relating to on the Exxon Valdez reopener clause, culminating in the Emmy-award winning film, The 3rd Trustee: Native Alaska and the Big Spill. The Emmy-award winning documentary has just been re-edited and released in a law school edition.
• UW School of Law Third Annual Climate Change Conference: Three Degrees Climate Change and Human Rights
• Legal Eaglets: UW Environmental Law Clinic Featured in Seattle Metropolitan Magazine
  For five years, the UW Environmental Law Clinic has defended the little guy, battled big corporations, and given sheltered students real-world experience.
• UW Environmental Law Clinic Director Elected to Board of The Clinical Legal Education Association
  Professor Michael Robinson-Dorn, Director of the UW School of Law’s Environmental Law Clinic, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA). Prof. Robinson-Dorn is the first faculty member from the UW School of Law to serve on CLEA’s Board.
• UW Environmental Law Clinic Director Named to State Climate Change/SEPA Implementation Working Group - Department of Ecology
• UW Environmental Law Clinic Contributes to New Climate Impacts Assessment Report
  Teaming with the UW Climate Impacts Group (Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean), the Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic assisted with the research, analysis and drafting of adaptation issues in Chapter 11 of the Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment.
• Michael Robinson-Dorn, Director of UW Environmental Law Clinic, Promoted to Associate Professor
  Effective July 1, 2009, Assistant Professor Michael Robinson-Dorn was promoted to Associate Professor. Professor Robinson-Dorn joined the faculty in 2003 as an Assistant Professor and founding Director of the Environmental Law Clinic, following a dozen years in practice. Professor Robinson-Dorn is a graduate of Cornell Law School and the University of Victoria.
• Director of UW Environmental Law Clinic Selected as Canadian Studies Institute Fellow
  Michael Robinson-Dorn, Director of the UW School of Law’s Environmental Law Clinic, and an affiliate faculty member of the Canadian Studies Center in the Jackson School of International Studies, has been selected as one of twelve faculty members from American universities to attend the 2009 International Canadian Summer Institute in Alberta, Canada.
• Report Details Climate Change in Washington – Seattle PI
• The UW Climate Impacts Group releases the final draft of the Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment.
  Students from the Environmental Law Clinic helped with the research, analysis and drafting of adaptation issues in Chapter 11. (1/11/09)
• Second Annual UW Climate Change Conference: Solutions for the Pacific Northwest Washington - UWLaw
  Environmental Law Clinic Director Michael Robinson-Dorn organized (Fall 2008)
• Clinic Provides Practical Experience on the Waterfront - UW Law Spring '08
  From experiences like Julie Schaffer’s summer work with Friends of the San Juans to confronting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on behalf of environmental groups, the clinic offers students hands-on, practical legal experience.
• U.S. Supreme Court expected to make decision on Teck Cominco case soon - The Canadian Press
  The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide this week if it wants to hear the case of a pollution lawsuit against Teck Cominco Ltd., a case legal experts say could make it easier for U.S. environmentalists to sue other Canadian companies. Michael Robinson-Dorn, director of the UW Environmental Law Clinic, said allowing the case to go ahead could help the environment.
• UW Clinic Students Making a Difference - KCBA Bar Bulletin
  For students in the University of Washington’s Environmental Law Clinic, being in law school may be a walk in the park, but only if it’s to gather data for an environmental impact statement (EIS).
• High Court, U.N. Weigh In on Climate Change - NPR Talk of the Nation
  Michael Robinson-Dorn weighs in on the Supreme Court ruling that the EPA can regulate auto emissions of greenhouse gases.
  
• UW Law School clinic files suit against EPA - UW Daily
  The Environmental Law Clinic at the UW law school filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of Friends of the Earth, a non-profit organization.
• Lawsuit Seeks EPA Action on Cruise Ship Pollution - Environmental News Service
  "The lawsuit only asks the court to require the EPA to do what the law says it must - respond to Friends of the Earth's petition," said professor Michael Robinson-Dorn of the Environmental Law Clinic at the UW, who prepared the case on behalf of Friends of the Earth.