Environmental Law Clinic
Overview
The Environmental Law Clinic provides an opportunity each quarter for 10 to 15 students to work in the environmental advocacy arena on behalf of a wide variety of nonprofit organizations, from national groups like the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Ocean Conservancy to such regional and local grassroots groups as the Center for Biological Diversity, San Francisco Baykeeper, and Voice of the Wetlands.
Under clinic director Debbie Sivas '87, students engage in natural resource litigation, administrative practice, and policy work involving federal public lands, marine and coastal resources, biodiversity, water quality, and global climate change.
Recent clinic participants have successfully litigated cases involving the protection of Joshua Tree National Park, the regulation of invasive species discharges from ships, the preservation of the Medicine Lake Indian sacred site, and the conservation of the endangered Mojave desert tortoise. Others have successfully advocated for policy reforms before state commissions to protect California's coastal estuaries from the impacts of power plant cooling water systems. And still others have worked on National Forest fire management policy, post-Katrina wetlands destruction, the protection of sea turtles from harmful fishing practices, the conservation of endangered vernal pool species and habitat, the preservation of public trust tidelands, and climate change litigation.
"Given the diversity of our work, each academic year brings new opportunities for direct, hands-on student experience. One of this year's highlights was a Ninth Circuit hearing in which a current clinic student argued one side of the case and a former clinic student argued the other. They both did a terrific job. From a clinical education perspective, it really doesn’t get any better."
Debbie Sivas '87, Director, Environmental Law Clinic
News & Press
News
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Appeals Court Rejects Environmental Group's Challenge to Wild Shrimp Import Decisions - Environment
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Court Allows Power Plant To Operate
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Group Sues Monterey County Water Resources Agency Over Polluted Runoff
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9th Circ. Won't Reopen Case Over Joshua Tree Dump
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Emotional Ceremony Dedicates New Law School Professorship
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Homepage - Announcements: Stanford Director Wins Key Sea Turtle Protections
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California Advances Bill To Set GHG Fees, Spend Auction Revenues
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New Institute Fights Climate Change
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Coastal Power Plants Could Face Tougher Rules
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Environmental Groups File Lawsuit Against EPA
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Invasive Species: Enviro Groups Sue EPA Over New Ballast Water Requirements
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Groups Sue EPA Over Lax Invasive Species Rules
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Groups Sue EPA Over Ship Discharge Permit
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Analysis: Some Overseas Extension Of Habeas?
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Last Minute Rules
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Court Ruling Ends Unpermitted Ballast Water Discharge
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Answering the Ocean’s SOS
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Mono Basin Area Population Of Greater Sage-Grouse Warrants Review for Possible Protection Under the Endangered Species Act
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EPA's Environmental Policies
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Army Engineers Criticize Toll Agency
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2008 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year
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Heeding The Call
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Bush Sides With Navy In Sonar Battle
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Decision On State Emissions Standards To Come By Year's End
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Panel Blocks Fuel Standards For Light Trucks And SUVs
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Once-Through Run Through
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She's Not A Headline Seeker, But Her Cases Are Big News
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State Challenges Federal Mileage Standards for SUVs
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Solo Environmental Attorney Joins Rogers Joseph
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The EPA and Emission Control
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Supreme Court Slaps EPA On Global Warming
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Inslee Joins Suit On Global Warming
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Judge To Settle Long-Running Boardwalk Land Dispute
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Global Warming Goes to Court
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Court Rules Medicine Lake Geothermal Plant Null, Void
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Judge Orders EPA To Control Ballast Water
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Calif. Poised To Act On Its Own On Global Warming
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Court Requires Ships to Obtain Permits for Ballast Water Discharge in US Waters
Press Releases
Journals & Newsletters
Stanford Environmental Law Journal (ELJ)
The Stanford Environmental Law Journal (ELJ) was founded in 1978, and is now considered one of the best environmental law journals in the nation. ELJ is a semiannual scholarly periodical dedicated to analyses of current environmental legal issues and policies.
Publications
- Deborah A. Sivas, Book Review (Should Trees Have Standing? Law Morality, and the Environment by Christopher D. Stone), California Lawyer 34 (November 2010)
- Mark A. Massara; Deborah A. Sivas, Viewpoints: CEQA Is Worth a Goal-Line Stand, Sacramento Bee, July 30, 2010.
- Deborah Sivas, After Copenhagen - What Now? Daily Journal, January 6, 2010, pg. 6.
- Deborah A. Sivas, Testimony [Before the California State Assembly Committees on Natural Resources and Utilities and Commerce , Joint Informational Hearing on Once-Through Cooling, Air Emissions Credit and Electrical Generation. March 2, 2009.].
Faculty
- Deborah A. Sivas
- Professor of Law
- dsivas@stanford.edu
- 650 723.0325
Lecturers
- Leah Russin
- Staff Attorney
- leah.russin@
law.stanford.edu - 650 725-4217
Fellows
- Matt Armsby
- ENLRP Fellow and Clinic Attorney
- armsbym1@stanford.edu
- 650 724.8619
Clinic Contacts
- Deborah A. Sivas
- Director
- dsivas@stanford.edu
- 650 723.0325
- Matt Armsby
- ENLRP Fellow and Clinic Attorney
- armsbym1@stanford.edu
- 650 724.8619
- Leah Russin
- Staff Attorney
- leah.russin@
law.stanford.edu - 650 725-4217
Recorded & Past Events
October 2007
March 2007
February 2007
Cases
Presently, the clinic is handling approximately 30 administrative and litigation matters involving marine and coastal resource protection, public land management, and water quality. For instance, students in the clinic have worked on cases to:
- Address the harmful impacts of the offshore California longline and gillnet fisheries on marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds.
- Conserve marine species and habitats along the California coast from the effects of power plant cooling systems and in-shore fishing activities.
- Prevent large-scale energy development on and industrialization of an Indian sacred site in northeastern California.
- Protect desert tortoise habitat in Southern California from human development (i.e., a garbage dump on the flanks of Joshua Tree National Park), grazing, and off-road vehicle activities.
- Preserve water quality in the San Francisco Bay and Delta from unlawful discharges by municipal treatment systems, oil refineries, agricultural interests, the timber industry, and shipping vessels.
- Enjoin unsustainable logging activities along the North Coast of California.
Center for Biological Diversity v. Brennan
- Memorandum of Amici Curiae John F. Kerry and Jay Inslee in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment
- [Proposed] Order Granting Motion for Leave to File Amici Curiae Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment
- Declaration of Craig H. Segall in Support of Memorandum of Amici Curiae John F. Kerry and Jay Inslee
- Motion for Leave to File Amici Curiae Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment
- Declaration of Rick S. Piltz in Support of Memorandum of Amici Curiae John F. Kerry and Jay Inslee
- Exhibits A – L
- Exhibits N – Y
- Exhibit M Part 1 – to Page 25
- Exhibit M Part 25 – to Page 50
- Exhibit M Part 51 – to Page 75
- Exhibit M Part 76 – to Page 100
- Exhibit M Part 101 – to Page 150
- Exhibit M Part 151 – to End
Contact Information
- Environmental Law Clinic
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Neukom Building, First Floor Mills Legal Clinic
Stanford Law School
Crown Quadrangle
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305-8610 - General Comments:
elc@law.stanford.edu
Clinic Questions:
lyndaj@stanford.edu - 650 725.8571