Welcome!

Lewis & Clark Law School is an extraordinary place in which to study environmental law, natural resources law, and animal law. Frequently named the No. 1 environmental law program in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, our academic program also was the first in the nation to receive the American Bar Association Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law. In 2010 we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary of educational leadership in environmental and natural resources law.

We welcome you to explore our trail-blazing environmental law program and to visit our beautiful campus. The sidebar on the right connects you with the many facets of our program.

Congratulations National Moot Court Champions!

We're getting used to saying this.  For the third year in a row, Lewis & Clark's team has won the Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.  Law students Ben Luckett, Lizzy Zultoski, and John Krallman triumphed over 83 other teams to win the Pace National Environmental Moot Court Championship on February 20, 2010.  After advancing to the quarterfinal round with 26 other teams, this year’s team defeated the University of Utah and Loyola of New Orleans in the quarterfinals, then Santa Clara and the University of Miami in the semifinals, and the University of Houston and the University of Wyoming in the finals.  With 84 teams participating in the competition this year, Lewis & Clark triumphed over more schools than any other championship team in the competition's history. 

This marks the third year in a row that Lewis & Clark has won this competition, and the seventh time in the last 17 years.  As a measure of the difficulty of this achievement, only one other law school has won twice.  A 2009 report, including a video interview with long-time coach Craig Johnston, gives more information about the competition and Lewis & Clark's record.

Team member Lizzy Zultoski is now a two-time national champion at this competition.  She is only the third Pace advocate to qualify for this honor in the competition's 22-year history.  She joins alumni Nancy Perry and Jenifer Johnston in that elite group.

Clean Air and Climate Change

Our annual national environmental law forum, The Clean Air Act at a Crossroads: Turning 40, Confronting Climate Change, will bring national experts to campus April 22-23, 2010. In keeping with our reputation for problem-solving conferences on cutting-edge topics, forum speakers will look for creative solutions to current air quality and climate change issues. This year, the conference will be available by live videocast.  For more information or to register, contact the Oregon Law Institute.

Summer School!

Lewis & Clark's beautiful campus, nestled in the wooded hills above Sustainable City Portland, Oregon, makes a fitting backdrop for our wide-ranging summer school offerings.  Our 2010 Environmental Law Summer School offers five-week evening courses in Administrative Law and Environmental Law, two-week afternoon courses in Climate Change and Renewable Energy Law and Policy, Comparative Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law and Wetlands Law, and our unique, popular one-week field course, Legal Ecology: Ecosystem Function and the Law co-taught by a renowned law professor and a noted ecologist in a beautiful, diverse wild area of Oregon.  The Animal Law Summer School offers a five-week course in Animal Rights and Jurisprudence and two-week intensives in Comparative International Animal Law, International Wildlife Law, Animal Legislation/Litigation/Lobbying, and Emerging Law and Policy of Companion Animals. 

For those interested in indigenous law, our Indian Law Summer School offers three five-week courses in Criminal Law in Indian Country, Federal Indian Law and Themes in Sovereignty, as well as three intensives, Alaska Natives and the Law, Gaming and Economic Development in Indian Country, and International Law and American Indians.  We also offer a variety of clinics and general law classes each summer. Join us!

Recent campus events available on podcast

LEED Certification and Starting a Sustainability Practice

Federalist Society: Land Use and Framers’ Intent Debate

Tre Arrow Speaks on His Case, His Activism, His Freedom

Invasive Species Debate: The Case of the Brushtail Possum

Global Justice and the World Trade Organization

2009 Animal Law Conference Animal Law: The Links

Climate Change and Wildlife Habitat

Pesticides and Farm Workers Panel

Groundwater Extraction and the Bottled Water Industry: Lessons from Maine for Oregon

22nd Annual NRLI Distinguished Visitor Lecture/Florida State Law Professor J.B. Ruhl on After Cap-and-Trade: The Climate-Forced Path of Environmental Law

2009 Distinguished Environmental Law Graduate Awards and Williamson Award

Alumnus George Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety, on Environmental Impacts of Factory Farming

Michael Zwirn, Director of U.S. Operations for Wildlife Alliance, on International Illegal Wildlife Trade

National Environmental Law Forum Greening the Grid: Building a Legal Framework for Carbon Neutrality

Questions?

Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program