Law - Environmental and Energy Law Concentration - JD Program

Pitt Law offers JD students who wish to explore the Environmental and Energy law field a flexible concentration with courses designed to equip them with the skills necessary for success. Students can study the key laws and regulations they will apply in their future legal practice. They can choose to take courses that cover any - or all - of the following substantive areas of law: pollution control, energy, oil and gas (including the law of shale plays), electrical utilities, land and natural resource use and conservation, renewable energy, and climate change. 

By completing this program, it is expected that JD students enrolled in the concentration will gain a comprehensive understanding of the substantive and procedural law of environmental and energy law. They will also acquire the ability to apply subject-matter expertise in environmental and energy law in experiential settings (e.g., clinics and externships or through classroom simulations) that will benefit them as they enter a career in the environmental or energy field or in another field in which knowledge of environmental or energy law is important.

Requirements

All students must follow the JD degree requirements in order to graduate. To qualify for this concentration, students are required to take a foundational course in environmental law, 5-6 credits of electives, and 4-6 skills-based credits. 

Please note that this program may require that you complete an internship, externship, or other field work at a facility or facilities external to the University and that such facility or facilities may require a criminal background check, an Act 33/34 clearance (if applicable), and perhaps a drug screen to determine whether you are qualified to participate.

Required Course

• LAW 5340 - ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Elective Courses (5-6 credits required)

• LAW 5201 - ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
• LAW 5038 - ENERGY LAW
• LAW 5082 - CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE LAW
• LAW 5295 - EXPERT WITNESS
• LAW 5198 - ANIMAL LAW

Skills Component (4-6 credits required)

• LAW 5883 - ENVIRONMENTAL LAW & POLICY CLINIC
• Environmental Moot Court Competition
• Externship in the area of Environmental Law or Energy Law
• LAW 5955 - D.C. EXTERNSHIP

Note

For detailed term-specific course descriptions, please go to the Schedule of Classes Course Lists on the Law School web site.