5 Things to Know About Pursuing an Environmental Law Career
Have you been paying too much attention in your geography classes and are you passionate about ensuring your environment is protected? Would you like to stop the global conglomerates from contaminating the rivers with toxic wastes? Perhaps you should think about pursuing a career in environmental law. Environmental law is a wide law section that examines a broad range of problems related to the environment like hazardous waste, water, air quality, biodiversity, agriculture, wetlands, species protection, alternative energy sources, waste management, green initiatives and sustainability strategies. It also covers the usage and regulation of natural resources. Do you know there are local and global laws that regulate things like chemical discharges, remediation, and noise levels? Problems like pollutants and containment methods, clean up and transport are some of the cases you will deal with when you choose to pursue an environmental career. An environmental attorney can work for the government or environmental non-profit organization, specializing in environmental law and regulation interpretation at the federal, state, international and local levels. This lawyer represents customers who have been affected by different environmental policies. Below are five things you should know if you would like to consider an environmental law career.
It's not mandatory to have a science undergraduate degree: According to experts, an aspiring lawyer who had humanity majors while in college should not be discouraged from becoming an environmental lawyer. Most would-be environmental lawyers tend to be intimidated because they have a perception that they need to be scientific experts. Although an environmental lawyer mostly works alongside scientists, the collaboration allows each professional to focus on their field to achieve their goals. Legal assignments vary: When you pursue an environmental law career, you will enjoy working on different tasks like regulatory practice and litigation work. What's more, you will never run short of new things to learn because there are a lot of exciting things in this field. Law school clinics offer a solid foundation: The environmental law clinic in your institution can assist you to gain essential introductions to some career mentors and help you decide if this kind of legal work is ideal for you. You must follow protocols: Since one of your responsibilities will be to ensure that companies follow the set environmental laws and regulations, you will have to follow protocol. Most people find the documentation requirement in environmental law very frustrating. However, a company that follows the ecological protection regulation but doesn't file proper paperwork quickly gets in trouble. Environmental lawyers are not always business antagonists: Even though an environmental lawyer who works for a public interest organization files lawsuits against businesses that violate the environmental protection regulations from time to time, some environmental attorneys represent the regulated companies. When you work in the private sector, you will get an opportunity to make a positive impact on our environment by helping your clients know more about how to attain environmental standards compliance and still make profits. Jay Sekulow is the Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice.