Lewis & Clark Law School

Introduction

Lewis & Clark Law School’s campus combines the best of city life with the natural beauty that surrounds Portland. Our campus is just six miles from downtown Portland and borders a forested wilderness park that provides the perfect backdrop to the study of environmental law.

Lewis & Clark’s environmental law program was founded in 1970 and is considered one of the best in the United States. Our LLM in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law offers excellent preparation for practicing, teaching, or policy making. This dynamic program draws lawyers from across the country and around the world, who consistently give the program high marks for its breadth, depth, and educational excellence.

Physical Facilities

• The resources and staff of the Paul L. Boley Law Library, the largest law library in the state and the second largest in the Northwest, well exceed standards set by the Association of American Law Schools. The Law School library is an exquisite study space with computer labs equipped with the latest technology and large windows looking into the tall green trees of the adjacent park. Wireless access is available on the entire campus.
• Framed by majestic fir trees, the campus is composed of contemporary buildings with classrooms and a large state park a moment’s walk from the library.
• Wood Hall, an award-winning “green” building, is the home of the environmental program along with the two on-campus environmental clinics—Earthrise Law Center and the International Environmental Law Project—and the Green Energy Institute. Classrooms 7 and 8, two seminar rooms, a computer lab, and office space for the three law reviews are also in Wood Hall.
• In the Legal Research Center (LRC) you will find the office of alumni, Business Office, Registrar’s Office, and the Dean’s Office, along with faculty offices. A large student lounge overlooks the forested state park with a full-service cafeteria, coffee cart, and bookstore. Classrooms 5 and 6 are also located in the LRC.
• The Admissions Office, the Career Services Office, lockers, and shower facilities are located in Gantenbein.
• Classrooms 1, 2, 3, and 4 are located in the McCarty Classroom Complex steps away from Wood Hall.
• Lewis & Clark Law students also have access to all facilities of the Lewis & Clark College undergraduate campus, which is just a few blocks from the Law School campus.

Housing

Although the law school does not offer on-campus housing, the college owns a few rental houses nearby. The Admissions Office maintains a database of rental properties on the law school website.

Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law

Lewis & Clark Law School offers an LLM in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law for graduates of ABA-approved law schools or their foreign equivalents who want to emphasize this area in practice, teaching, research, or public policy. The program is intended for both recent law school graduates and established lawyers who want to enhance their current practice or develop a new specialty.

We offer classes in both environmental law, focusing on the legal schemes for regulating pollution of air, land, and water, and natural resources law, addressing the legal schemes for resources such as wildlife, water, forests, minerals, and public lands, as well as a variety of energy law courses. We also offer cutting-edge classes such as Environmental Justice, International Environmental Law, Trade and the Environment, Renewable Energy Project Finance and Development, and Law, Science, and the Environment.

The LLM program is small so that we can work with each LLM student on an individual basis. Our program director assists each US LLM student with his or her course selection, provides career counseling along with our Career Services Office, and helps with paper topics. Our associate director works with each international LLM student on course selection and class tutoring, orients students to Portland, and teaches a preparational seminar in August to help international students prepare to study US environmental law. Each LLM student has a faculty advisor who can also assist in class choices, paper topics, and career advice.

Lewis & Clark’s LLM program requires completion of 26 semester hours of credit for US students and 28 hours for international students. The program can be completed in two semesters or spread over two and a half years. US students can apply to begin their LLM studies in the fall semester (which generally begins in late August) or in the spring semester (which generally begins in mid-January). Absent unusual circumstances, we require international students to begin in the fall so they can attend the Introduction to US Environmental Law and Legal Studies Seminar, a two-credit course designed to help prepare them for law study in the United States.

Application Information

Each application is evaluated as a whole. We are interested in your scholarly capacity, your skills as a lawyer, your academic performance, and your interest in the environmental, natural resources, and energy law field.

• Application Process
• LLM application (LSAC LLM Credential Assembly Service)
• Letter explaining why you seek an LLM in environmental, natural resources, and energy law (about 200 words)
• Three letters of recommendation
• Current résumé
• Writing sample (approximately 10–15 pages) that demonstrates your ability to organize, reason, and communicate
• Law school transcript
• TOEFL or IELTS scores for international applicants
• Tuition

Contact Information

For additional information, please visit the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law website, or contact

Lucy Brehm
Associate Director
10015 SW Terwilliger Boulevard
Portland OR 97219
USA

Phone: 503.768.6882
Email: elaw@lclark.edu

Career Services

The Career Services Office maintains and runs an extraordinary number and variety of programs. The staff consists of experienced administrators, counselors, and professionals to assist with career advice, résumé and interview preparation, and job-search strategies.