Environmental & Energy Law Courses

Foundational courses survey the range of statutes, regulatory practices, and judicial decisions in the environment and energy field. Advanced courses and seminars provide in-depth coverage of several environmental statutes as well as a number of environment and energy practice areas.

JD candidates may earn Recognition of a JD Concentration in Environmental Law by suc­cessfully completing 14 credits of coursework in Environmental Law, including three required courses—Environmental Law (6430), Natural Resources Law (6440) and Administrative Law (6400)—two credits of experiential learning related to environmental or energy law (Field Place­ment (6668)) or any Environmental or Energy law class that is designated as an “E” course) and two credits graded on the basis of a research paper that meets the standards for the law school’s upper-level writing requirement, either written in conjunction with one of the courses below or, with advance approval of the program director, written for a journal, independent legal writing, or a course that is not included in the list below on an environmental law topic. Students may use the same paper to fulfill the writing requirement for both the concentration and the JD.

JD candidates may earn Recognition of a JD Concentration in Energy Law by success­fully completing 14 credits of coursework in Energy Law and Environmental Law, which must include Energy Law and Regulation (6438) and Administrative Law (6400). In addition, students are required to take at least four credits from among the following courses: Energy Law Seminar (6441),** Oil and Gas Law (6443), Atomic Energy Law (6459), and Air Pollution Control (6432). Finally, students must have two credits of experiential learning related to environmental or energy law (Field Placement (6668)) or any Environmental or Energy law class that is desig­nated as an “E” course) and two credits graded on the basis of a research paper that meets the standards for the law school’s upper-level writing requirement, either written in conjunction with one of the courses below or, with advance approval of the program director, written for a journal, independent legal writing, or a course that is not included in the list below on an energy law topic. Students may use the same paper to fulfill the writing requirement for both the concentration and the JD.

Declare Your Concentration

For JDs who would like to formally declare Environmental Law or Energy Law concentrations, please visit the GW Law Forms webpage and fill out the JD Concentration Declare/Withdraw Form for the Records Office.