Environmental Law Society and the Journal of Environmental Law & Policy
The Environmental Law Society is open to all interested students and seeks to make available to UCLA Law students information about environmentally related issues and activities. The Society arranges speaking events to facilitate open discussion of important and often controversial issues, coordinates UCLA participation in inter-school environmental moot court and negotiations competitions, and organizes environmentally-focused activities for students.
The UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, one of the country's top environmental law journals, has a staff of more than 50 students. The Journal publishes twice a year and generally accepts articles from professors, practitioners, and others in various environmentally related fields, as well as UCLA student-written comments and book reviews.
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Student Placement
UCLA Law student alumni placement in environmental law and policy jobs has been phenomenally successful. Here are some selected examples of recent UCLA Law graduates' work:
2010 graduates: Dustin Maghamfar is starting an honors attorney position at the United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Maya Kuttan is the incoming honors attorney fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 9 office. Sharona Toobian will be starting this fall at the firm Chadbourne and Parke, working on alternative energy issues.
2009 graduates: Jonathan Wiener is a new staff attorney at Earthjustice in Washington, DC. Jackie Prange has just started employment at the elite environmental boutique firm Shute Mihaly & Weinberger, in San Francisco, after completing a federal district court clerkship. Angela Mo is an honors attorney at the United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division. And Christine Kolosov is an associate at Winston and Strawn, working on alternative energy.
2008 graduates: Lauren Nevitt works at the South Coast Air Quality Mgmt District, after two years of private practice. Travis Ritchie works as an attorney on coal issues for the Sierra Club in San Francisco, also after two years at a major law firm. And James Mize works as counsel at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in its Seattle office, after a stint in the private sector.
Externships
In the fourth or fifth semester at UCLA Law, students may choose to participate in the externship program to gain valuable real-world experience. Environmental law externships offered include the California Attorney General's office (in the Environment or Natural Resources Sections), the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. Students spend an entire semester working for the agency or organization and receive full law school credit. This is a phenomenal way to work with practicing environmental lawyers, develop skills and gain insight into future job opportunities.
Over the past two years, UCLA School of Law has placed full-time student externs in extremely competitive federal government environmental law positions. Third-year students Alexa Engelman, Jacob Kaufman, and Jed Ela have spent a semester at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), working on significant environmental issues for the federal government. The agency has its finger on the pulse of the White House's most significant environmental initiatives. CEQ's work includes coordinating federal agencies' work on environmental issues; CEQ oversees implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act, and also has embarked on important recent initiatives in ocean protection and in energy efficiency. In spring 2010, third-year student Glenn Yeck worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, in its environmental crimes division. His work included prosecution of Clean Water Act violations, wildlife smuggling crimes, and other criminal violations of federal environmental laws.
Summer Funding for Law Student Work in Environmental Law
The Environmental Law Center and Emmett Center have made it possible for many students to perform legal work outside the law school relating to the environment. Student positions funded in 2010 included:
California Attorney General's Office, Environment Section (Leonard Aslanian)
California Attorney General's Office, Land Law Section (Margaret Lee)
California Attorney General's Office, Natural Resources Section (Philip Hoos)
California Air Resources Board (Steven Andrews)
Center for Biological Diversity (Nicole Di Camillo)
Natural Resources Defense Council (Isaac Silverman)
Surfrider Foundation (Staley Prom)
U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Enforcement Section (Michael DuLong)