Professional Enrichment

Specialized Intensive Trainings

Good lawyering entails lifelong learning. Lewis & Clark provides ongoing opportunities for graduates and law students alike to enrich their understanding of environmental and natural resources law. Non-lawyer natural resource professionals are also welcome to take advantage of many of our educational offerings. We also offer specialized, intensive training programs geared to judges and government employees.

Distinguished Environmental Law Visitor

Now in its 18th year, Lewis & Clark's Distinguished Environmental Law Visitor program brings renowned environmental law scholars to campus to share their expertise with students and the legal community. Distinguished Visitor lectures are free and open to the public.

The Rule of Capture Conference

Each year, Lewis & Clark also hosts regional and national conferences for the legal community, which students may attend at low or no cost. In the 2004-05 academic year, Lewis & Clark's major environmental conference will be The Rule of Capture Conference (Capture and Its Consequences), our second national conference in commemoration of the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Voyage of Discovery. We will also host a national water law conference in the fall of 2005.

Student Groups

Lewis & Clark's dynamic law student groups organize a multitude of extracurricular events and lectures throughout the year, many of which are free and open to the public. The Environmental Law Caucus and NRLI cosponsor an Environmental Colloquium Series, which brings environmental and natural resources practitioners and other speakers to campus to give presentations on a wide variety of topics. The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund hosts an annual national Animal Law Conference. Student Advocates for Business and Environmental Responsibility also hosts a Sustainability Conference each March.

Environmental Summer School

Our Environmental Summer School program provides students, lawyers and other interested professionals with a chance to gain proficiency in an area of environmental or natural resources law in a short amount of time. Five-week classes meet during the evening to accommodate work schedules; two-week intensives meet in nine afternoon sessions. Each year, Summer School also provides a six-day field class in an area of great ecological interest, where students spend intensive study time with a noted ecologist and an environmental law professor.

Natural Resources Law Institute

Lewis & Clark's Natural Resources Law Institute also provides opportunities for established scholars to pursue their environmental or natural resources law interests in-depth in a relaxed, supportive environment. The annual Distinguished Environmental Law Scholar program provides a stipend, office, and access to extensive library holdings. The Scholar participates fully in the life of the school, and produces a publishable paper on a cutting-edge topic of environmental or natural resources law. Applications for the Scholarship are due in early March for the following academic year.

Visiting International Scholars

The law school also welcomes environmental law professors from other countries as Visiting International Scholars to research U.S. environmental law for time periods from one week to one year. Visiting International Scholars have access to law school events, classes, and research facilities while working on major research projects.