Courses in Environmental Law

Administrative Law

LAW 501

An examination of the legal limits of state and federal executive action; rule-making; adjudicative and investigative actions of administrative agencies; relevant statutes, such as the Administrative Procedure Act; and the concepts of delegation, ripeness, standing, judicial review, and due process.

California Environmental Law Seminar

LAW 507

A Survey of California Environmental Law is a twelve week course designed to introduce students to environmental laws promulgated by and specific to the State of California. Instruction and discussion will be scheduled for the first ten weeks of the course. The latter two weeks of the course will be devoted to student presentation of final papers. Content will be designed to briefly examine each of the following statutory schemes: the California Environmental Quality Act; the California Endangered Species Act; the Porter Cologne Act; the California Clean Air Act; and, the California Coastal Act. Given that each of these statutory schemes is extremely intricate, and given that the course is limited to ten weeks, mastery of the statutory schemes is not expected. Instead, it is anticipated that students will acquire an understanding of the purpose of each Act, the general procedures associated with each Act, and how each Act is used to protect California's environment. Throughout the course, students will be expected to evaluate whether each of the statutory schemes presented achieves the goal and policy of environmental protection.

Constitutional Law I

LAW 202

An examination of the sources and nature of constitutional law and of the judicial functions in constitutional cases; the scope of federal power, the separation of powers, and the federal system; protection of the rights of individuals, due process, equal protection issues; the Bill of Rights; contract impairment; eminent domain; and the privileges and immunities of citizens. Students must sign up with the same professor for Constitutional Law I and II.

Constitutional Law II

LAW 203

An examination of the sources and nature of constitutional law and of the judicial functions in constitutional cases; the scope of federal power, the separation of powers, and the federal system; protection of the rights of individuals, due process, equal protection issues; the Bill of Rights; contract impairment; eminent domain; and the privileges and immunities of citizens. Students must sign up with the same professor for Constitutional Law I and II.

Environmental Justice

LAW 621

This quasi-clinical course will combine a substantive introduction to environmental justice with practical experience in that area. The class will be divided into groups, based on students' interests and substantive backgrounds, to work on specific projects with organizations. In a weekly seminar, the first hour will be devoted to substantive topics in environmental justice law and the second will focus on learning from the group projects. The class will rely on active learning techniques, such as brainstorm and simulation.

International Environmental Law

LAW 544

A survey of international environmental principles and problems, treaties and conventions. Topics to be covered include biodiversity, global climate change, hazardous substances, vesse-lbased pollution, marine conservation, transboundary air and water pollution (emphasizing Mexico-U.S. issues), and nuclear damage.

Local Government Law

LAW 550

Local governments are cities, counties, special districts, or public authorities. Some types of special districts are school districts, flood control districts, and water districts. Public authorities are government entities that usually perform a single function. For example, fire protection is provided to many Orange County cities by the Orange County Fire Authority. Most basic government services and functions, including police and fire protection, education from kindergarten through community college, sanitation and health services, water, flood control, transportation, and land use regulation are provided by local governments. Local governments license businesses and tax us and our property. Local government permits are required for many activities. Because of the pervasive impact of local governments on our daily lives, you are likely to represent people involved in litigation with local governments or you might have a local government as a client (many local governments hire private law firms rather than a government lawyer). However, you will discover that the law you learned in most of your courses might operates in special ways when a local government is involved. There are special rules of tort law and contract law for local government actions. Many courses focus on rules for private parties and skip the special rules for local governments. Local Government Law is a survey course designed to prepare you to deal with the types of local government issues often encountered in private practice or as a local government lawyer. The course begins with a study of the types of local governments and their powers. We will also examine the legal relationships of local governments with each other and with the state and national government. These concepts are the foundation of all issues involving local government law. Two other important topics we will study are the revenue powers and legal liability of local governments. You will be introduced to other selected topics such as local government employment law, local government contracting, land use control, and researching local government law. The course is designed to teach the basics of local government law for any state, but many of the cases and illustrations will focus on California law and current events. All course materials, including the casebook, will be provided without charge on CD-ROM, on TWEN, or in class handouts. If you desire additional information, contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Modern Real Estate Transaction

LAW 541

An examination of real estate sales and financing; subdivision financing and development; planned unit development, condominiums, cooperatives, and income-producing (rental) properties; and tax considerations.

Natural Resources Seminar

LAW 358

This seminar surveys and evaluates federal and state law regulating the use of natural resources, with special emphasis on mining, water, and timber issues. Today's international situation and economic downturn have sharpened conflicts over the exploitation and preservation of these raw materials, so along with traditional sources such as cases and statutes, the class will discuss relevant articles from natural resource periodicals such as High Country News. There is no prerequisite for this course, although some subjects introduced in Real Property, such as takings and the public trust doctrine, will be considered in greater depth. A 15-20 page paper is required, and for at least two weeks the class will not meet while students conduct their research. The last week will be devoted to brief student presentations on individual paper topics.

Real Property I

LAW 109E

Real Property II

LAW 110E

Remedies

LAW 407

An explanation of the availability and limitations of equitable and legal remedies, focusing on injunctions, declaratory judgments, specific performance, reformation, rescission, restitution, enforcement of decrees, and the problems in the merger of law and equities.