To obtain this certificate, J.D. students must complete a package of coursework totaling a minimum of 14 credit hours, submit a research paper on a topic relevant to the field, and complete 20 hours of service work relevant to the field. Students must satisfy the certificate requirements with a combined total overall grade point average of 2.5 or higher, and with no individual grade below C in certificate courses. (A certificate course is any course needed to satisfy certificate requirements, including any course with which the required research paper is associated.)
**Please note: Not all courses are offered every semester.**
A. Required Courses (9 credits)
- LAW L858 Environmental Law (3 credits)
- LAW L844 Administrative Law OR LAW L847 Legislation and Regulation (3 credits)
- One experiential offering (3 credits), or other pre-approved equivalent offering or experience, including:
- LAW L897 Clinical Seminars (various topics, 5 credits)
- LAW L900 Academic Externship (3 credits) (with approval of Program Director)
- LAW L974 Advanced Legal Research: Community-Based Research Lab (3 credits)
- LAW L976 Environmental Law and Policy Lab (3 credits)
- LAW L976 S50 Environmental Law and Policy: Florida Keys (3 credits)
- LAW L977 Environmental Litigation: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
- OR another skills-based alternative, (with approval of Program Director)
B. Choice of Elective Courses (5 credits minimum)
- LAW L817 Mediation and Arbitration (3 credits)
- LAW L819 Construction Industry & Sustainability Seminar (2 credits)
- LAW L834 Environmental Justice (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW L835 Natural Resources Law (3 credits)
- LAW L837 Property and Land Use Seminar
- LAW L838 Oil and Gas Law (3 credits)
- LAW L856 State and Local Government Law (2 credits)
- LAW L864 Admiralty 1 (3 credits)
- LAW L879 Admiralty Seminar: Marine Pollution (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW L879 Admiralty Seminar: Intro to International Law of the Sea (1 credit)
- LAW L886 Environmental Law Seminar (2 credits) (may take more than one), including:
- Law and the Climate Crisis;
- Environmental Enforcement and Compliance;
- Hot Topics in Environmental Law
- LAW L896 Professional Seminars (2 credits) (may take more than one), including:
- Green Building
- LAW L900 Academic Externship (3 credits) (with approval of Program Director)
- LAW L911 Introduction to American Indian Law: Overlapping Jurisdictions (3 credits)
- LAW L913 Disaster Law and Policy (2 credits)
- LAW L917 Public Health Law (3 credits)
- LAW L922 Toxic Torts (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW L929 Energy and the Environment in International Law (2 credits)
- LAW L974 Advanced Legal Research: Community-Based Research Lab (3 credits)
- LAW L975 Energy Law and Policy (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW L976 S50 Environmental Law and Policy: Florida Keys (May Term, 3 credits, in Florida)
- LAW L976 Environmental Law and Policy Lab (3 credits)
- LAW L977 Environmental Litigation: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
C. Research Paper
Students must complete a research paper of high professional quality concerning environmental law. They may fulfill this requirement in conjunction with a course listed above, as part of Legal Research Supervised Paper (LAW L898), Advanced Legal Writing (LAW L905), or through one of the College of Law's journal offerings. This paper must be written for a grade. Advance approval of the topic by the program chair is required. Papers must be at least 30 pages in length.
D. Service Hours
Twenty (20) hours of pre-approved public service work in the field of environmental protection or study. (Public service work is broadly defined to include work performed for a stipend, in additional to pro bono work.) Certificate students would certify their 20 hours using the same monitoring mechanisms already in place. Public service hours used to satisfy the Certificate in Environmental Law may not be used to satisfy other requirements in other law school programs except in special circumstances and with the joint permission of the heads of those programs.
E. Performance
Students must complete the certificate requirements with a combined overall grade point average of 2.5 or higher, and with no individual grade below "C" in a course needed to satisfy the Certificate in Environmental Law.