Negotiation is a skill. This course sharpens those skills. It focuses on such matters as negotiation styles, emphasis on interests rather than positions, distributive bargaining (win/loss) versus integrative bargaining, communication, cross cultural negotiations, gender differences, ethics and psychological biases that affect negotiations. Students will be instructed on the use of the negotiation tools and asked to complete negotiation exercises and then called upon to reflect on their experience. These exercises require the students to negotiate with each other. All of the students in the classroom sessions will discuss their experiences and receive input from the instructor.

This course introduces students to the general field of energy law. It begins with an overview of the global energy situation in terms of supply and demand as well as balanced projections for the coming decades both in the U.S. and abroad. It then will proceed to examine the primary sources of energy along with the multi-faceted role of electricity as the central source of secondary energy in our economy. This portion of the course will offer a survey view of how these energy sources are used and regulated from economic, reliability, and environmental perspectives. This will include an overview of legal and regulatory principles governing fossil fuel extraction and use, the coal industry, nuclear power, a range of renewable energy sources, and finally the regulation of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. The course will conclude with a brief review of the growing role of conservation and climate change in energy markets here and to some extent abroad

This course introduces students to the principal aspects of ensuring compliance with the Clean Air Act, obtaining (or challenging) permits for new facilities, and defending (or bringing) enforcement cases for violations of the Act. The course will be most helpful for students in business and technical courses of study who may be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Clean Air Act. This course will include case study-style projects that will allow non-lawyer students to apply classroom instruction to real-world situations that apply the legal principles and EPA policies affecting sources of air pollution. This course will also develop practical skills in basic legal research and the ability to find and apply EPA guidance documents in the contexts of compliance, permitting, and enforcement.

This course will cover the role and influence of the legal system on the use, allocation, and steward-ship of water resources in the United States. Since the field of water resources management is rapidly evolving to accommodate storm protection, ecosystem restoration and sea level rise an understanding of the policies that underlay our current laws and the factors that are influencing current policy and lawmaking will be an important part of the course’s focus. Students will be required to participate in one group project in which they will be asked to develop, present and defend a position paper on some aspect of the water resources management challenges arising in a coastal region of the United States.

This course will examine legal efforts to address climate change, both at the national and international level. It will include detailed examination of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol and the extent to which these policies have been adopted in the U.S. at the national and local levels. Attention will also be given to non-statutory responses in the U.S. to the addressing climate change including judicial decisions that have attempted to mitigate the effects of climate change. Among the specific aspects of climate change that will be examined are coastline impact, auto emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, limitations on fossil fuel development and utilization, and human rights issues including environmental justice. Students will be asked to develop climate change policies and assess the U.S. response to the global impact of climate change.

This course provides an overview of the Federal Power Act (FPA) and the agency charged with its implementation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Students will learn how “electric public utilities” are defined under the FPA, and which of their activities are regulated by the federal government under the FPA. They will also learn the rules that govern FERC’s regulation of various utility activities, from rates and services to mergers and acquisitions. Students will explore the differences between types of public utilities (including independent power providers, regional transmission organizations, and vertically integrated utilities). The course will also address FERC’s policymaking procedures and will include a discussion of ongoing public policy initiatives. Please note that the course does not cover the Natural Gas Act (gas pipelines and related facilities) or the Interstate Commerce Act (oil pipelines).

This course will expand on the materials briefly examined in the introductory Energy Law, Regulation and Policy Survey course taught in Term 1. This course will provide a more detailed and comprehensive examination of the legal issues and legal rules and regulations relevant to the development and utilization of alternative energy sources. It will also examine the calculations that business do and should undertake in determining whether or not to invest in these sources. It will also examine the policy issues underlying governmental decision making concerning the encouragement of developing alternative energy sources.

This foundational course introduces students to sources and functions of law in our society relating to energy law. The course begins with an overview of the American legal system and sources of law and introduces students to statutory interpretation and plain language analysis. In Legal Analysis I, students will learn to read and interpret statutory law and regulations, read and brief cases, and develop basic legal writing and analysis skills. Students will also learn to find and research legal information through multiple short research assignments focusing on energy law issues. Through multiple short writing assignments such as a case brief, an IRAC essay analyzing a statutory issue, and an e-memo interpreting statutory & regulatory law relating to an energy law topic, students learn to apply statutes and regulations to analyze legal issues relating to energy law.

This course builds on Legal Analysis I to introduce students to the relationship between enacted & administrative law and common law. The course continues instruction on legal research methods in finding and analyzing cases and common law. Students learn to read and synthesize multiple cases and learn analogical and policy-based reasoning. Through multiple short writing assignments, such as an e- memo analyzing a statutory issue in the context of a litigated issue arising out of administrative enforcement action, students learn to apply statutes, regulations, administrative materials, and case law to analyze complex legal issues relating to energy law.

This course will enable students to understand what natural resources are and the fundamentals of how natural resources are managed in the United States. The course will identify various definitions of natural resources and will include consideration of public land laws, and laws governing management and use of water, air, mineral, oil and gas, cultural, and wildlife resources. We will also consider the roles and responsibilities of the primary land management agencies, including, generally, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and counterpart state agencies. Reading and discussion topics are current and were selected to be thought-provoking. The course will start with a definition and identification of natural resources and consideration of ownership and management of those resources. The course will include an overview of the various public land laws, the Wilderness Act, the Antiquities Act, other laws creating national monuments and public land withdrawals, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Mining Law of 1872, the Mineral Leasing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the various agencies that implement these laws and their respective implementation roles. Other topics that will be covered in the class include current natural resource policy issues under consideration either by the Biden administration or in Congress.

A great deal of environmental and energy law plays out in the administrative law system. The functions, procedures, and standards of the administrative law system are hugely important to understand how conflicts in energy and environmental law are resolved. This course will introduce students to the administrative law system, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the role of judicial review in administrative law.

This course will expand on the materials introduced in the Energy Law, Regulation and Policy Survey course taught in Term 1. It will examine the various statutory and administrative regulations of fossil fuel, business concepts relevant to the continued development of fossil fuel sources, as well as other issues arising out of the development and utilization of fossil fuel including environmental impact, human rights concerns, racial injustice considerations, impact on forest ecosystems, alternative methods of obtaining fossil fuels, and the acquisition and retention of permits.

Demand for the safe and uninterrupted flow of utility services has never been more necessary. Simultaneously, the global focus on planting trees to stabilize our warming planet has never been more apparent, with public, political and scientific consensus favoring tree planting. Yet, each year, conflicts between trees and utility infrastructure result in numerous deaths, injuries and over a hundred billion dollars of loss. Let’s investigate the laws and policies we need to change.

This course will focus on the transition from what you've learned as a student to using it in your field. The course is built around a research paper for the first portion of the course. Upon approval from the instructor, you will be given tasks to prepare and write a 12-20 page research paper on a legal subject of your choice.

All students enrolled in the online MJ program must attend one EIW to be eligible to receive the Masters degree. Students are welcome to attend more than the one EIW session. Each session is composed of two days of academic and other programming at the Law School during the summer. The EIW is designed to (a) supplement the online curriculum by involving students and faculty in discussion of new developments and unique other issues not addressed in the online curriculum; (2) provide students with networking opportunities by meeting their peers; (3) provide students and faculty opportunities to meet face-to-face; and (4) provide a tangible link between the students and the law school to promote their continued relationship to the school. The course is not offered for credit but attendance is required for program completion.