ENVIRONMENTAL
TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES WHILE PROTECTING PEOPLE AND NATURE
AN EDUCATION OF
Learning by doing is key to becoming a successful lawyer. My clinical experience set me up with the tools necessary to become a true advocate for the wild creatures and wild places that I—and my clients—hold most dear.” - Kelly Nokes JD’15, Shared Earth Wildlife Attorney, Western Environmental Law Center
The clinic taught me how to practice environmental law in a way classroom learning cannot teach.” - Katie Bleau JD’19, Honors Attorney Program, U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor
The clinic was one of the most valuable learning experiences at VLS, both professionally and personally. I developed an ability to quickly analyze new issues and assess potential angles for engagement, which is crucial to my current work.” - Andrea Folds JD’18, Associate Legislative Counsel, Earthjustice
The experience was instrumental in helping me to obtain my dream job.” - Derek B. Campbell JD’06, Attorney-Advisor, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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My experience as a student clinician helped me hit the ground running as an environmental advocate right out of law school. Within months of graduating, I was working to develop and bring citizen suits against polluters who were violating our public health and environmental laws.” - Jen Duggan JD’07, Vice President and Director, Conservation Law Foundation Vermont
AREAS OF ADVOCACY WATER
Jay Ericson
We file lawsuits, challenge agency actions, counsel groups and communities, and advocate for policy changes to protect and restore surface waters, groundwater, and aquatic ecosystems.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT HAS NEVER BEEN MORE PRESSING OR MORE COMPLEX. IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY CLINIC, THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYERS IS LEADING THE CHARGE.
CLIMATE
We work on cutting-edge issues relating to climate change and energy, preventing coal and oil projects from damaging fragile ecosystems, threatening public health, and destabilizing our climate.
WILDLIFE AND HABITATS
The Environmental Advocacy Clinic (EAC) is a public interest law firm housed within Vermont Law School. The EAC focuses on legal actions in court and with agencies that focus on four key issue areas: safeguarding our climate; protecting our waters; championing wildlife and habitats; and fighting for healthy communities. Our students work on the frontlines of environmental advocacy, learning how to be lawyers by tackling real-world environmental cases. They represent clients ranging from major conservation organizations like National Wildlife Federation to marginalized communities struggling to access justice.
We protect threatened and endangered species, biodiversity, healthy ecosystems, and wild places from human-induced threats.
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
Partnering with groups disproportionately affected by pollution, we expand access to justice. We advocate for policies that make communities healthier and empower their voices.
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SINCE ITS FOUNDING AT VERMONT LAW SCHOOL IN 2004, THE ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY CLINIC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES LAW CLINIC) HAS:
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A LEGACY OF
Upheld Endangered Species Act protections for the grey wolf in the northeast
2006 Prevented construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal that threatened a sacred tribal site in Passamaquoddy Bay
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Helped establish—and successfully defended in court—a law protecting Vermont groundwater as a public trust resource
Settled a case requiring EPA to update the air quality standards for nitric acid plants, major sources of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide
2008 Filed a brief on behalf of the Association of State Wetlands Managers that was cited in Justice Kennedy’s concurring opinion in the controversial Rapanos case
Helped craft, pass, and defend Vermont’s precedent-setting GMO food labeling law
Negotiated a groundbreaking settlement protecting mountain streams from pollution caused by a Vermont resort
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2010 Filed an amicus brief on behalf of the two principal authors of the Clean Water Act, in opposition to an EPA rule exempting transfers of polluted water from one watershed to another
Halted hot-water discharge from a nuclear power plant that threatened fish populations in Vermont
Stopped a proposed natural gas pipeline in Puerto Rico that threatened habitats of more than 40 endangered species
Halted a major coal development in Montana’s Powder River Basin that would have destroyed valuable habitat and added to carbon pollution
Fought in federal court to protect Maine’s Canada lynx
Gave voice to a Vermont community threatened by an asphalt plant and rock crusher before the Vermont Supreme Court, successfully requiring quarry operators to obtain an Act 250 permit
2014 Safeguarded remote habitat and communities in Vermont from the threat of a possible tar sands oil pipeline by securing state permitting jurisdiction over any proposed project
Fought the use of harmful pesticides in Vermont’s Champlain Valley
Protected Puerto Rico’s clean energy future by stopping an offshore liquefied natural gas port and pipeline in Jobos Bay
2016 Protected the health of hurricane-hit U.S. Virgin Islands communities by preventing FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers from burning 600,000 cubic yards of debris
Launched a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, one of the nation’s largest conservation groups, to serve as legal counsel for the Federation’s advocacy work nationwide
2018 Advocated in Vermont’s Environmental Court for a multi-generational family in their fight to protect their farm from toxic lead pollution
Successfully defended Vermont’s ability to protect water quality and trout habitat from a dam relicensing project in the state Supreme Court
2020
Filed an amicus brief that helped persuade a federal judge to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline
The team [at the EAC] is a great partnerfor grassroots and community groups, helping underrepresented communities have a voice in decision-making.” – Svein Newman, Political Organizing Director, Northern Plains Resource Council 4
EXPANDING OUR REACH THE LATEST EAC PROJECTS In 2019 the nation’s foremost conservation organization joined forces with the nation’s premier environmental law program: The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) selected the Environmental Advocacy Clinic to serve as legal counsel in its high-impact litigation and policy advocacy. Students are now co-piloting key policy and environmental outcomes across the country, including NWF’s efforts to stop devastating proposed rollbacks of keystone environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act. They have also worked to advance NWF’s legal challenge to the Pebble Mine, a proposed copper and gold mine that threatens to pollute Bristol Bay, Alaska—one of the world’s most significant wild salmon and brown bear habitats. Building on its longstanding commitment to offer pro bono legal representation, the EAC is also expanding its environmental justice work. Students are developing cases
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and projects to improve conditions for disenfranchised communities suffering environmental harm. They are working at regional and national levels to ensure protections from air and water pollution and exposure to pesticides and toxic chemicals, while holding polluters accountable. Meanwhile the EAC is preparing future environmental leaders for the fight that defines their generation. Students work on cutting-edge issues related to climate change and energy. Much of this work involves the coal and oil industries, which contribute overwhelmingly to the climate crisis. For example, in Florida, we are challenging the relicensing of a nuclear plant that threatens groundwater resources already stressed by climate change. Our students are also helping National Wildlife Federation and partners responsibly develop offshore wind— one of the cleanest and most abundant untapped renewable energy sources—in a manner that protects wildlife and oceans.
TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF A clinical experience requires intense supervision, a low student-to-faculty ratio, and the ability to go toe-to-toe in complex litigation against opponents with significant resources. The clinic builds on its expertise in environmental and natural resources law with extensive connections throughout the local, regional, national, and international conservation communities. We select students based on academic achievement, work experience, and research and writing skills. Students must demonstrate a sincere commitment to public interest work and advancing environmental and natural resources issues, as well as an ability to devote substantial time to clinic work. Together, students, faculty, and clinic staff develop work plans and learn together from each case—its strategy, progress, research, client and media relations, and ethics. Weekly seminars deepen students’ knowledge of environmental law and the details of professional practice. Intense, hands-on lawyering includes frequent meetings and communication with clients and drafting of briefs, motions, memoranda, and discovery-related documents. Clinicians attend and participate in negotiations, hearings, and court and administrative proceedings. Since cases take place in federal and state courts and administrative venues, students become familiar with a range of court and agency procedures. This clinical experience develops well-rounded professionals with a high degree of skill, judgment, and respect for the rule of law. 6
ON THE FRONTLINES How Clinic Students Make a Difference
THROUGH THE COURTS
Our cases come from local, regional, and national organizations and community groups in need of competent, creative legal assistance to address environmental problems through litigation in both federal and state courts. Students take charge of key elements of cases and develop the facts and law, resulting in a rich learning experience and wins for our natural world and its inhabitants.
THROUGH THE LEGISLATURE
From testifying before state legislatures to working with partners to develop new laws, students shape and defend important environmental legislation.
THROUGH THE AGENCIES
The EAC directly engages the states and federal agencies charged with protecting our environment and public health to ensure they do their job. Students fight illegal rollbacks and file comments and petitions to hold the EPA and other agencies accountable.
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LIFE AFTER LAW SCHOOL
We oversee the nation’s premier program for aspiring attorneys seeking an impactful career in environmental law. Our graduates in leadership roles and national partners extend our reach across the country. Clinic students gain access to an unparalleled network of alumni now working at:
Acadia Center American Forests American Institutes for Research Anthropocene Institute Arrowood LLP California Air Resources Board Center for Food Safety Clean Air Task Force Conservation Law Foundation Cottonwood Environmental Law Center Defenders of Wildlife Delaware Highlands Conservancy Duke Energy Earthjustice Eastern Environmental Law Center Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Integrity Project Finger Lakes Land Trust Honeywell International KSE Partners LLP Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance Mintz Levin
Municipality of Anchorage The Nature Conservancy National Conservation System Foundation National Hydropower Association National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Natural Resources Defense Council Navajo Nation DOJ Near East Foundation New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission New England States Committee on Electricity New York State Office of the Attorney General Northeast Wilderness Trust Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance Office of the Vermont Attorney General The Peace Corps PennFuture Promontory Financial Group Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board Quantis International Regional Marine Conservation Project
Salt River Project San Luis Obispo Science & Ecosystem Alliance Scenic Hudson, Inc. Sierra Club State of Alaska Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, Inc. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Department of Interior U.S. Department of Justice Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Vermont Department of Financial Regulation Vermont Public Utility Commission Western Environmental Law Center Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wyoming Attorney General’s Office
The legal expertise provided by the [EAC], which includes numerous dedicated students, gives voice to Passamaquoddy members opposing the destruction of our heartland [Passamaquoddy Bay], land, and culture. -Vera Francis, Organizer and Member, Nulankeyutmonen Nkitahkomikon
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OUR TEAM
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JIM MURPHY LLM’06, DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
KEN RUMELT LLM’12, SENIOR ATTORNEY AND PROFESSOR
PATRICK PARENTEAU, SENIOR COUNSEL AND PROFESSOR
Jim Murphy also serves as legal advocacy director of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). Throughout his career he has worked to advance legal and regulatory solutions to carbon pollution; protect wildlife from harmful fossil fuel projects; promote clean, wildlife-friendly renewable energy; safeguard wetlands and waters; and protect endangered species. He has represented the NWF and other conservation groups as party or amici in several precedent-setting cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and other Federal Courts. Prior to joining NWF he worked with the Conservation Law Foundation, in private practice, and on Capitol Hill.
Focusing on environmental issues related to energy infrastructure, air and water pollution, and toxic chemicals, Professor and Senior Attorney Ken Rumelt has worked on a range of matters since joining the clinic in 2010: from oil pipelines and coal railroads, to waste incinerators and disaster recovery. Professor Rumelt also served on Vermont’s Act 154 Chemical Use Working Group, which was empaneled to recommend improvements to Vermont’s regulation of toxic substances. Before joining VLS faculty, he worked for firms in St. Louis and Denver on mass tort cases involving lead smelter emissions and mining waste.
The founding director of the EAC in 2004, Professor and Senior Counsel Patrick Parenteau has been drafting, litigating, implementing, teaching, and writing about environmental law and policy for over three decades. His extensive background includes positions as vice president for conservation with the National Wildlife Federation; regional counsel to the New England Regional Office of the EPA; commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation; and senior counsel with the Perkins Coie law firm in Oregon. His current focus is on confronting the profound challenges of climate change.
RACHEL STEVENS JD/MELP’13/LLM’16, STAFF ATTORNEY AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
MASON OVERSTREET MELP’13/JD’16, STAFF ATTORNEY AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
ABIGAIL ANDRÉ, STAFF ATTORNEY AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Professor Stevens has worked at the clinic since graduating from VLS in 2013 and completing the two-year LLM fellowship program. Focusing on environmental justice, she has partnered with communities to fight polluting fossil fuel infrastructure and waste incinerators and advocated for stronger public health protections. Before joining the faculty, she worked for the Office of the Georgia Capital Defenders and Stack & Associates, P.C., a boutique environmental law firm in Atlanta. During law school she worked full-time in the clinic, receiving the Clinical Legal Education Outstanding Student Award, and was managing editor of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law.
Staff Attorney Mason Overstreet worked as a clinician while pursuing his JD at VLS, where he also earned a Master of Environmental Policy and completed a twoyear LLM Toxics Fellowship. Before that, he was the conservation director for Friends of the West Shore in Lake Tahoe, California. More recently, he taught Environmental Law and Policy at Colby-Sawyer College and performed contract work for American Rivers. Outside of work, he serves on the boards of the Greater Upper Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Center for Ecological Living and Learning.
Abigail André joins the Environmental Advocacy Clinic after 10 years of environmental litigation with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Section, where she led a diverse docket and worked with many federal agencies. Professor André was on the team that litigated the case against BPXP and others arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for her work on the case. Before joining the EAC in 2020, she taught courses on environmental litigation and administrative law at the University of Denver’s Strum College of Law.
ABOUT VERMONT LAW SCHOOL
MONICA LITZELMAN MELP’12, LITIGATION PARALEGAL Monica Litzelman is the EAC’s litigation paralegal and clinic educator. She has over twenty years of experience in the legal field. Her previous employment includes Diamond & Robinson PC, the Supreme Court of Vermont, Vermont Criminal Information Center, Vermont Center for Justice Research, and Martin & Associates PC. Monica received her BA in criminal justice from King’s College, summa cum laude, Certificate of Paralegal Studies from Woodbury College, and Master of Environmental Law and Policy, cum laude, from Vermont Law School.
vermontlaw.edu/eac
@VLSEnviroLaw
@ELCvtlaw
Vermont Law School (VLS), a private, independent institution, is home to one of the nation’s top-ranked environmental law programs. VLS offers a juris doctor curriculum that emphasizes public service; four master’s degrees—Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Master of Energy Regulation and Law, Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy, and Master of Arts in Restorative Justice—and four post-JD degrees—LLM in American Legal Studies (for foreign-trained lawyers), LLM in Energy Law, LLM in Environmental Law, and an LLM in Food and Agriculture Law. The school features innovative experiential programs and is home to the Environmental Law Center, South Royalton Legal Clinic, Environmental Advocacy Clinic, Energy Clinic, Food and Agriculture Clinic, Environmental Justice Clinic, and Center for Justice Reform. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu.
For their longtime, continued support of the EAC, we would like to thank: The Johnson Family Foundation Special thanks also to: The Maverick Lloyd Foundation Lisa Steele And to: Aaron J. and Barbarina M. Heyerdahl 10
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY CLINIC Vermont Law School 164 Chelsea Street | PO Box 96 South Royalton, VT 05068 USA