Regulatory Lawyering

Legal practice in the modern world requires the ability to deal with complex regulatory regimes, including tax, environmental, telecommunications, and others. Thus, the operation of a business raises a host of regulatory issues to be resolved and integrated into the broader context of managing the business. This experiential course will introduce students to regulatory practice, with the goal of developing the basic skills and experience needed in such a practice. While taught in the context of environmental law, the skills covered in the course are central to a broad range of regulatory practice areas.In a series of simulated scenarios, the course will focus on a number of industrial or commercial facilities facing a variety of environmental regulatory issues. The scenarios include: (1) regulatory analysis and compliance counseling under various California air quality regulations or federal hazardous waste regulations; (2) review and analysis of draft state and federal permits, and preparation of permit comments on behalf of the company or interested environmental groups; (3) review and analysis of draft regulations, and preparation of written and oral public comments on those draft regulations; and (4) negotiation and drafting of consent order(s) or variances with regulators regarding identified regulatory violations. Discussion of professional responsibility issues will also be integrated throughout the course. The course will be self-contained. In other words, those aspects of substantive environmental and administrative law needed for the course will be taught as part of the course. Previous experience in courses such as Environmental Law or Administrative Law is unnecessary.