Jane Steadman, PEAC Student

Point of View

Degree: JD ’09
Hometown: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Background: BA, Kalamazoo College

Why law school?

I came to law school because I wanted to become a public interest environmental attorney. I had been working as a grassroots organizer for a few years, and I felt the law would provide me another tool in my toolbox of skills and strategies for effecting the change I believe our country needs to make in its treatment of the natural world.

Why Lewis & Clark?

Since my goal in attending law school was to become a public interest environmental attorney, Lewis & Clark Law School was an obvious choice. Lewis and Clark provides an unparalleled range of environmental courses and clinical opportunities for upper level students. Even in their first year, students have opportunities to volunteer with on-campus environmental groups like the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, allowing the students to gain real legal experience prior to even their first summer clerkship. In addition, the environmental faculty and staff are committed to providing students with the practical skills needed to succeed as environmental attorneys. Plus, I was already living in Portland, and I love it here.

Why PEAC?

One of the reasons I wanted to come to Lewis and Clark was that I knew I would be able to work with the great attorneys at PEAC. I was impressed with PEAC’s docket as an organizer working on salmon issues in the Pacific Northwest prior to law school, and I have continued to be impressed with the organization as a law student. I wanted to get involved with PEAC to work on cases that aim to maintain and enhance the quality of life we enjoy in the Pacific Northwest through preservation of our natural surroundings. I also knew PEAC would help me further develop my practical legal skills.

What are you working on at PEAC?

While at PEAC, I have focused primarily on salmon issues, which coincides nicely with my pre-law school organizing experience. I have worked on challenges under the Endangered Species Act to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s critical habitat analysis in the 2008 Federal Columbia River Hydropower System Biological Opinion and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s failure to consult on listed species of salmon and steelhead before implementing its flood insurance program, which allows development in flood plains. I have also worked on challenges under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act to the Army Corps of Engineers’s decision to allow the City of Lake Oswego to build a dock for luxury yachts in some of the last habitat that can support salmon spawning and rearing in the lower Willamette River.

Favorite educational moment at PEAC?

Generally, I really enjoy the strategy sessions in the weekly meeting with all of the attorneys and clerks. Listening to and participating in these sessions has been a wonderful experience because it has provided me a new perspective on how attorneys decide to bring a case or make strategic decisions during the course of a case. Because we discuss all the cases the organization is working on, these meetings have provided me a breadth of strategic understanding I did not gain through my prior clerkships, where I focused solely on the cases on which I was working.

Favorite non-educational moment at PEAC?

Dan Mensher’s description of how his tie helped him win an oral argument.

How do you think your PEAC experience will impact your future goals?

PEAC has allowed me to further develop my legal research and writing skills, while introducing me to the thinking behind strategic decisions lawyers must make on a day-to-day basis. Along with the other clerkships I have had during law school, PEAC has helped prepare me to hit the ground running in my first position as an attorney. I’m grateful for the practical experience and mentorship the clinic and its attorneys have provided me.

What are your post-graduate goals?

My clerkships with PEAC, Earthjustice, the Crag Law Center, the Oregon Natural Desert Association, and the International Environmental Law Project have been truly great experiences and have confirmed that I want to be a public interest environmental attorney. At present, I am searching for such a position.