The Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic fits within the Law School’s Program in Law, Communities and the Environment (PLACE). Students in this semester-long clinic have the opportunity to work on real-world environmental problems in a variety of venues — legal advocacy before courts, expert testimony before administrative agencies and coalition building directly with the communities impacted by environmental harm.
The clinic has represented a diverse array of public-interest clients in recent years, from a community group working to preserve an early 20th-century black schoolhouse, to local governments filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to working on in-house clinic cases, students also have the option of working closely with attorneys at the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nationally prominent environmental law and policy organization that is headquartered in Charlottesville. The clinic is available to new students in both fall and spring. Students participating in the fall may request to continue to the advanced clinic in the spring, on a first come, first served basis.
Supreme Court Amicus Briefs Filed by the Clinic
City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, (2024). PDF
Sackett v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, (2022). PDF
United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association, (2020). PDF
Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian, (2019). PDF
County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, (2019). PDF
Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren, (2018). PDF
Administrative and Regulatory Filings Prepared by the Clinic
Brief of Public Health and Energy Efficiency Amici Curiae (Jan. 9, 2024). PDF
Comments Opposing Proposed Regulation to Withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ("RGGI") (March 31, 2023). PDF
Letter on Behalf of the AAMD Pine Grove Project to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Oct. 21, 2020). PDF
Letter on Behalf of the City of Staunton, Virginia to the Council on Environmental Quality (March 10, 2020). PDF
Letter on Behalf of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to the U.S. EPA (Apr. 28, 2018). PDF
Public Policy Reports Prepared by the Clinic
Legal and Verified: Voluntary Carbon Offsets and their Contribution to Carbon Neutrality Goals at the University of Virginia (Nov. 30, 2021). PDF
The Role of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission in the Transition to a Zero Carbon Economy (July, 2021). PDF
Report on Legal Analysis of Well-Water Contamination and Options for Remediation, (June 18, 2020). PDF
Legal Report on Executive 43, (May 29, 2020). PDF
Legal Options for Community Choice Aggregation in Virginia, (Dec., 2019). PDF
Barriers and Opportunities for Siting Solar Energy Projects on Contaminated Mine Lands in Nevada, (May, 2017). PDF
To be considered for this clinic, students must both rank the clinic in the clinic lottery and submit application materials within the timeline set by the Student Records Office. Students selected for the clinic through the clinic application/lottery process will be automatically enrolled prior to the regular course lottery.
The positions that the clinic takes on behalf of its clients are independent of the views of the University of Virginia or the School of Law.
Faculty
Cale Jaffe
Professor of Law
Director, Program in Law, Communities and the Environment (PLACE)
Director, Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic
Skills Taught
Administrative law practice before federal/state agencies, litigation involving expert witness testimony, community engagement and client relationship skills working directly with environmental and grassroots nonprofits, coalition-building, advocacy
Grading
H/P/F
Course Credits
4 (3 for advanced clinic)
Application
Instructors
In the News
5.22.24 Professor Wins University’s Excellence in Public Service Award
6.3.22 Brecken Petty ’23 Blooms in Law School
6.1.22 Environmental Clinic Joins Proposed Agreement with Dominion on Offshore Wind
6.7.21 National Trust Designation Boosts Clinic’s Efforts to Save Schoolhouse
1.4.21 Professor Appointed to Virginia Energy Commission
5.20.20 Andy Kriha ’20 Receives Outstanding Clinical Student Award
5.4.20 Clinic Joins Fight To Preserve Historic, Black Schoolhouse
2.14.20 Students Play Role in Clean Energy Win for Client
8.2.19 From Supreme Court Briefs to Pioneering Projects, Cale Jaffe Leads Environmental Clinic To Success
3.27.19 Clinic Student Plays Lead Role at Regulatory Hearing
9.28.18 Environmental Clinic Brief Defends Virginia’s Uranium Mining Ban
5.15.18 Clinic Represents Sierra Club in Wetlands Case
12.18.17 UVA Law Clinic Seeks to Protect Tribe’s History
5.10.17 Environmental Clinic Students Tackle Timely Topics
6.22.16 Alumnus Cale Jaffe '01 to Join Faculty, Direct Environmental and Regulatory Law Clinic
4.13.16 Environmental Law Clinic Puts Student on Front Line of Virginia Uranium Mining Battle
University of Virginia School of Law professor Cale Jaffe received a UVA Excellence in Public Service award for, among other accomplishments, his efforts to preserve a historic Black schoolhouse in Cumberland County, Virginia.