Certificate Program in Sustainability Law
At Willamette, you get a lot more than an environmentally based class or two — you get the real deal. You learn about the law and the environment in a setting that actually respects the environment, and for that matter, the individual studying the environment. The professors involved in the program are dedicated, motivated, concerned and involved.
Students interested in careers in sustainability, environmental, energy and natural resources law have the opportunity to enroll in a focused program of study and earn a specialized certificate along with their Doctor of Jurisprudence degree.
The Certificate Program in Sustainable Environmental, Energy and Resources Law (SEER) places special emphasis on the role of the lawyer in formulating environmental and natural resources law and policy to sustain and protect our local and global resources. The program's full course of study was designed by the Willamette law faculty to be both comprehensive and intensive. Students enrolled in the Certificate Program in Sustainability will receive a solid foundation in all areas of the law but also have the academic flexibility to specialize in specific areas related to sustainability and the environment.
Willamette's law school is well known for its challenging and rewarding curriculum; the Certificate Program in Sustainability is no exception. The program requires completion of 15 hours of specialized coursework, including lawmaking process, environmental law, sustainable natural resources or global sustainability, and six additional hours of coursework from the core program. Participation in the program is open to 15 students each year.
First-year students interested in admission to the program should enroll in the introductory law and government course offered in the spring semester. In addition to the required courses, the program requires a major paper and a practicum.
Students have a wealth of choices available for satisfying the certificate program's elective requirements, including environmental justice, environmental criminal enforcement, climate change and energy law, water law, ocean resources law, land use planning, wildlife law, American Indian law, cultural heritage law, international and comparative environmental law, and mediation and dispute resolution.
Why Study Sustainability Law at Willamette?
Willamette University College of Law has been preparing students for successful careers in environmental and natural resources law since 1989. Throughout the past two decades, the program's emphasis has expanded from environmental, energy and natural resources law to encompass a more far-reaching paradigm — sustainability.
The Sustainability Law Program at Willamette was designed to prepare the next generation of lawyer-advocates to lead their communities, the nation and the world toward a more sustainable future. The program trains students to think about environmental issues in concrete ways and to translate broad legal theory into targeted public policy and litigation. The program provides new insights into environmental, energy and natural resources law, with a keen eye focused on the long-term sustainability of our world.
The professors who developed Willamette's Sustainability Law Program are widely recognized as pioneers in environmental justice and sustainability law and include scholars who created one of the first international natural resources curricula emphasizing sustainability (1992), taught the first sustainability law course in the United States (1993), and published the first law review symposium focused on sustainability law and policy (1995).
Program Requirements
To be eligible to receive a Certificate, a Certificate candidate must:
- Have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher to be eligible for admittance into the Certificate Program;
- Apply and be admitted to the Certificate Program;
- Complete a total of 15 hours in the Certificate Program courses listed below; and
- Receive a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in the Certificate Program courses, including Environmental Law and Policy, Sustainable Natural Resources or Global Sustainability, and Administrative Law, all of which must be taken on a graded basis.*
* Students must have the practical ability to take and complete all courses required for the Sustainability Law Certificate prior to graduation. If, for any reason, a Certificate candidate is unable to complete all courses prior to graduation, the student shall either opt to graduate on time without the Certificate and/or continue at the College of Law for such additional time as is necessary to complete the Certificate requirements.
1L Required Introductory Course (3 hours)
- 116: Lawmaking Process
2L/3L Required Core Courses (14-16 hours)
- 223: Environmental Law and Policy
- 255: Administrative Law
- 348: Sustainable Natural Resources or 386: Global Sustainability
- Six or seven additional hours of coursework from the core curriculum (e.g. Land Use Planning, Water Law, Wildlife Law, Energy Law, Environmental Justice, American Indian Law, and Environmental Law Moot Court).
2L/3L Required Practicum Experience
Certificate students must complete a substantial, professional work product concerning environmental, energy or resources during a supervised practicum experience (i.e., clinic, externship) approved by the Director. This does not satisfy the graduation writing requirement.
Note: For students pursuing a Certificate with emphasis in a substantive area the Practicum writing project must be in the substantive area selected for emphasis.
2L/3L Research Writing Requirement
Certificate students must satisfy their writing requirement by writing on an environmental, energy or resources topic in a core program seminar or another seminar approved by the Director.
Program Faculty
Students enrolled in the Certificate Program in Sustainability have the opportunity to learn from lawyers with extensive experience litigating natural resources cases and forming environmental policy. They include experts in sustainable natural resources, environmental justice, climate change, energy law, international law, cultural heritage, American Indian law, water law, ocean resources and wildlife law. In addition to the four full-time professors teaching in the program, more than 10 members of the Willamette faculty offer a broad range of sustainability and environmental law courses.
