Pace University School of Law's environmental faculty of nine full-time professors and nine adjunct faculty make teaching and revising courses for Pace's degree programs in environmental law their top priority. Pace's teachers make the time to be available to students and work with them on independent research, scholarly papers, and projects. In addition, Pace's three experienced program managers work very closely with students.

The core program leads to the Juris Doctor, open to college graduates who seek to become attorneys. With over twenty-five environmental courses available, students can design their course of study so that they qualify for a specialist's Certificate in Environmental Law as part of their Juris Doctor degree.

Advanced programs for lawyers include: the Certificate in Environmental Law, a 12 credit program providing the "basics" for practice in this field, and the Master of Law (LL.M.) in Environmental Law, a thorough preparation to specialize in Environmental Law, with a separate track designed for lawyers trained in countries outside the United States to become grounded in comparative and international environmental law and practice. For a very select number of candidates, Pace offers the Doctor of Juridical Sciences (S.J.D.) Degree, the research degree for those interested in advanced scholarship and teaching.

Individuals interested in discussing any of these programs or in obtaining a bulletin and application forms are encouraged to call the Pace Admissions Office at 914-422-4210, and welcome to visit Pace Law School's campus.

The Juris Doctor Environmental Law Program
Juris Doctor (J.D.) candidates benefit from the widest regular offering of environmental law courses at any law school in the country. Most courses are offered every year. The basic courses are offered both day and evening every year. More advanced courses are offered alternatively in the day and evening. This rich course selection is made possible, in part, by the LL.M. program in Environmental Law. All courses open to LL.M. candidates are also open to J.D. candidates. The environmental law clinics, however, are available on a priority basis to J.D. candidates. The presence in classes of LL.M. candidates, who have averaged several years of practice after law school, enriches the classroom experience for J.D. candidates. (LL.M. grades are not considered in establishing grading curves for J.D. candidates.) LL.M. students registered for 2003 hale from Brazil, Chili, Kenya, Mongolia, Spain and Uganda.

Pace's law faculty provides a uniquely enriching introduction to environmental law. The full-time faculty are seasoned by diverse experience: they have enacted environmental laws in Congress, administered them as high officials of the federal EPA and state environmental agencies, enforced them as officials of the Department of Justice or state attorneys general offices, advocated strong laws with environmental groups, and provided defense and compliance counsel as attorneys in private practice or in corporate law departments. Pace's faculty experience touches every aspect of the environmental law practice.

Back to Top

Environmental Law Clinics
These clinics are courses where students act as attorneys representing actual clients, under the supervision of the environmental law clinical faculty. Pace currently offers three environmental law clinics - the Environmental Litigation Clinic, the Washington DC Summer Externship, and a New York Externship Program.

The Environmental Litigation Clinic intensively immerses students in an environmental law practice representing public interest groups, primarily the Hudson Riverkeeper. Clinical faculty member Professor Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is also General Counsel to the Hudson Riverkeeper. The Riverkeeper's charter is to protect the waters of the Hudson River system from the Adirondacks to Long Island Sound. This mission takes it into federal courts, state courts, federal and state administrative proceedings, and occasionally into local proceedings. Clinic students represent the Riverkeeper in all of these proceedings. Their efforts have led to precedent setting decisions by federal courts under both the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The Washington DC Summer Externship offers students the unique opportunity of working with federal agencies in the nation's capital, while earning credits in a supervised summer externship.  Students have worked for the US Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, the Environmental Law Institute, the National Academy of Public Administration and the Council of Environmental Quality. Supervised while in DC by Professor Steven P. Solow, formerly Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section of the US Department of Justice and currently with the law firm of Hunton & Williams, the students have a richly rewarding experience.

In the New York Externship Program, students: (1) assist the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in prosecuting enforcement cases in areas ranging from Long Island, to White Plains, to the Catskills. Different DEC offices have different needs and emphasis in their cases, from hazardous waste cleanups to pesticide; (2) prosecute environmental violations with the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Westchester County District Attorney's Office.

All clinics have a classroom component, where students study the theory and experiences of their practice, and a practice component, where they act as attorneys. The combination of the two provides them with an invaluable introduction to the practice of environmental law.

Admission to J.D. Candidacy
Our Juris Doctor program attracts students from approximately 180 undergraduate schools throughout the United States and from around the world.

Reflecting our selection by National Jurist as one of the top law schools in the country for women, over half of our student population is female. Our Pace Environmental Law Review is distinguished by having had a woman, Lois R. Murphy, as its first Editor-in-Chief.

Approximately 170 students are selected for the three-year Day division program, and 80 for the four-year Evening Division program. Applicants are required to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and to register with the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS).

Back to Top

The Certificate Program in Environmental Law
Since 1982, Pace has offered a Certificate in Environmental Law for both attorneys and Pace J.D. candidates. The Certificate is authorized by the New York State Department of Education, and certifies that the holder has successfully demonstrated proficiency in the fundamentals of environmental law. All Certificate candidates must complete 12 environmental law course credits with an average grade of B or better (and no grade below a C); J.D. candidates seeking the certificate must also have maintained an overall grade point average of 2.5. Given the complexity of the environmental statutes and practice, law offices recognize that there is a premium to having systematically studied environmental law. Pace’s certification distinguishes its holder to the bar, future employers and the public as a specialist. The course requirements are designed to acquaint the candidate with the substance and practice of the fields of environmental quality and pollution, natural resources use and development, and the administrative systems through which these laws operate.

Required Certificate Courses (credit hours)
Environmental Law Skills and Practice (4), Hazardous Waste (2), and six (6) credits from the Elective Certificate Courses.

Elective Certificate Courses (credit hours)
The remaining credits may be chosen from the courses listed above and from the following.  Not every course is offered every year.

• Animal Law (2)
• Comparative Environmental Law (2)
• Conservation Law (2)
• Energy and Natural Resources Law (2)
• Environmental and Toxic Torts (2)
• Environmental Commercial Transactions (2)
• Environmental Externship in Washington DC (6; only 3 (credits can apply to Certificate)
• Environmental Justice (2)
• Environmental Law Externship - New York (4; only 3 credits can apply to Certificate)
• Environmental Law Seminar (2) - includes Clean Air Act, Coastal and Marine Law, History of Environmental Law, Environmental Jurisprudence, Negotiations, NEPA/SQRA, Risk and Environmental Regulations, and Watershed Law
• Environmental Law Survey (3)
• Environmental Litigation Clinic (6; only 3 credits can apply to Certificate)
• Environmental Litigation Seminar (2)
• Environmental Regulation of Real Estate Development - Theory (2), Practice (2)
• Environmental Science for Lawyers (2)
• Guided Research (1-2)*
• Health and Safety in the Workplace (2)
• Historic Preservation Seminar (2)
• International Environmental Law (2)
• Land Use Law (3)
• Legal Management of Urban Environments (2)
• Mass Tort Litigation (2)
• Non-Profit Organizations (2)
• Pace Environmental Law Review Editorship (2-3)
• Water Resources Law (2-3)

Other Related Courses (credit hours)

• Administrative Law (3)**

* Requires prior permission from the Director of 
   Environmental Law Programs
** Not counted toward Certificate

Back to Top

Joint Degree Programs

Pace J.D./M.B.A. or J.D./M.P.A.
Pace offers its J.D. candidates the opportunity to pursue a joint degree program in either business management or public administration, leading to the additional degree of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) or the Masters of Public Administration (MPA), respectively with the addition of one year of study and the integration of courses between the two degree programs. For lawyers committed to a corporate practice or government practice, the enhanced skills of these dual degree programs is a distinct advantage.

The J.D./M.B.A. requires a total of 126 credits: 74 from the School of Law and 52 from the Lubin School of Business Graduate Programs. The J.D./M.P.A. requires a total of 110 credits: 74 credits from the School of Law and 36 from the Department of Public Administration. For both these joint degrees students may begin their course of study in either the School of Law or the appropriate graduate school. Applicants for a joint degree must apply to both schools and meet the independent admissions requirements of each school before admission to joint degree candidacy is approved.

Pace/Yale (J.D. & M.E.M.)
Pace Law School offers a joint degree with Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (J.D./M.E.M.). The J.D./M.E.M. requires a total of 111 credits (75 from the Law School and 36 from Yale). Students should apply to both schools and meet the admission requirements of each for approval of the joint degree. It is anticipated that students in the program will receive a Certificate in Environmental Law from Pace in addition to the dual degree and be able to utilize their degree for career placements in the field of environmental law.

Pace/Yale Joint Degree Program Frequently Asked Questions

Pace/Bard (J.D. & M.S.)
Pace Law School offers a joint degree with Bard College's Center for Environmental Policy (J.D./M.S.). The Pace/Bard program requires four years in residence, with two and a half years spent at Pace and one and a half years at Bard. Students in the program must earn 84 credits to obtain the J.D. from Pace (10 of which may be transferred from Bard) and 44 credits to obtain an M.S. from Bard. Students must apply separately to each school and meet the admission requirements for approval of the joint degree. 

Back to Top