Upcoming Events

Association of Towns
2011 Annual Meeting & Training School

Tiffany Zezula, Managing Director of the Land Use Law Center and Kheel Center, as well as Kheel Center advisors Pamela Esterman and Edna Sussman, will be speaking at the Association of Towns Annual Meeting.  Tiffany and Pamela will speak on “Integrating Mediation, Facilitation, and Collaboration into Municipal Land Use and Environmental Decision-making,” while Pamela and Edna will speak on “Alternative Dispute Resolution for Municipal Disputes.”

Alternative Dispute Resolution for Municipal Disputes
Mediation and arbitration are two of the most frequently utilized forms of dispute resolution.  In the context of non-employment related municipal disputes, however, there remains significant potential to expand these forms of ADR.  This course will review the benefits of mediation and arbitration generally and then provides several examples of the types of non-employment municipal disputes that can be resolved using these methods of dispute resolution.  When:  Monday, February 21, 2011 at 3:00 pm (CLE / Town Attorney Track)

Integrating Mediation, Facilitation, and Collaboration into Municipal Land Use and Environmental Decision-making
Local officials have expressed frustration over the fact that most every major land-use decision in their community eventually becomes adversarial and often ends in litigation. Even more frustrating is the fact that some of these decisions present real and valuable opportunities for the community which could provide solutions of benefit to all. Instead these opportunities are not being seized because of the hostile decision making climate and significant expenditures of staff time and money must be incurred. This session will focus on different approaches to integrating mediation, facilitation, and collaborative decision-making into land use decision-making and discuss certain tools and techniques that can be used. The speakers will also discuss the use of these techniques in addressing climate change and other environmental related issues.  The advantages and disadvantages of each approach will be discussed.  When:  Tuesday, February 22 at 11:00 am (Planning and Zoning Track)

When: Sunday, February 20, 2011 - Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Where: Hilton NY, 1335 Ave of the Americas, New York, NY 10019

 

 

Recent Events

 

Sustainable Development Law:
Keeping Pace

James D. Hopkins Lecture and Reception.  Presented by Professor John R. Nolon, James D. Hopkins Professor of Law.  Reception Immediately Following in the Rotunda.

When: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 (4:00PM)
Where: Judicial Institute Lecture Hall, Pace Law School, 78 North Broadway, White Plains, NY

RSVP by calling Brenda Thornton at (914) 422-4123 or by emailing bthornton@law.pace.edu

 

Sea Level Rise Training Program

We are pleased to announce a unique training program this fall.  The program will focus on Hudson River shoreline adaptation and resiliency and will be conducted by the Land Use Law Center with support by the National Sea Grant Law Center and the Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes. The curriculum for this program will emphasize the health and well being of the Hudson River and non-point source activities, innovative approaches to sea level rise adaptation, economic development, hazard mitigation, and natural resource protection to strengthen community planning, regulation, and informed decision-making. Best management practices and technical assistance on land use planning and regulation will also be provided. The program is offered free of charge and satisfies the four credit annual training requirement for local board members.  CLE credits will also be available to attorneys at the cost of only the credits.

When: Oct. 4, Oct. 8, Nov. 1, Nov. 15, 2010 (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Where: Norrie Point Environmental Center in Staatsburg, NY
Registration Fee: No Charge for program.  For attorneys requesting CLE credits there will be a charge of $10 per credit.

For more information contact Tiffany Zezula at tzezula@law.pace.edu.

 

Rediscovering Sustainable Development Law
In the Community and In Legal Practice

View Conference Video
View Lunch Address by Andrew Revkin

This half-day conference explores the emergence of sustainable development practices in communities, law firms, and government programs from the federal to municipal level. Learn how sustainability draws together affordable housing, environmental protection, economic development, and climate change mitigation.  In government programs, it integrates initiatives from HUD, EPA, and DOT, which are instrumental in helping with local green building efforts, sustainable neighborhoods, and transportation strategies. The 40-year history of sustainable development law will serve as the backdrop for presentations on its modern and practical applications.  Registration is complimentary. Lunch will be provided.

When: Friday, October 22, 2010 (8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.)
Where: New York State Judicial Institute, Pace Law School, White Plains, NY

Download Conference Materials Here
- Speaker PowerPoints
- List of Firms with Sustainable Development Practices
- Annotated bibliography: What is sustainable development law?
- Report to the IPCC on Research Connecting Human Settlements, Infrastructure, and Climate Change
- Enhanced TOD: Connecting Transportation and Land Use Planning
- Energy Codes, Green Building Initiatives, and Beyond
- Addressing Distressed Properties: Legal Tools
- The Essential and Growing Role of Legal Education in Achieving Sustainability
- Changing Times—Changing Practice: New Roles for Lawyers in Resolving Complex Land Use and Environmental Disputes
- Managing Climate Change through Land Use: Creating the Human Infrastructure for Collaborative Decision-Making at the Local Level
- Practically Grounded: Convergence of Law Use Law Pedagogy and Best Practices
- Cooperative Federalism and Climate Change: New Meaning to “Think Globally—Act Locally”
- The Land Use Stabilization Wedge Strategy: Shifting Ground to Mitigate Climate Change
- Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Land Use for New York Local Governments
- The Law of Sustainable Development: Keeping Pace
- Excerpts from Laidlaw Energy and Environmental, Inc. v. Town of Ellicottville, 59 A.D.3d 1084 (4th Dep’t 2009)

Presentations & Speakers:

“Sustainability at the Top: Federal Laws and Programs”
Congresswoman Nita Lowey

“Law for Sustainability: Meeting the Challenge of Our Generation”
John C. Dernbach, Widener Law School, Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental Law Center

“Climate Change and Sustainable Development Law in a Nutshell”
Patricia E. Salkin, Albany Law School, Raymond & Ella Smith Distinguished Professor of Law and Associate Dean and Director of the Government Law Center

“Sustainable Development in Legal Practice”
Daniel A. Spitzer, Partner, Hodgson Russ LLP, Buffalo, NY

“How Citizens Help: Creating the Human Infrastructure for Collaborative Decision-Making at the Local Level”
Jessica A. Bacher, Pace Law School, Adjunct Professor of Law and Managing Director, Land Use Law Center; and
Tiffany B. Zezula, Pace Law School, Managing Director, Land Use Law Center and Theodore W. Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes

Kheel Center Lunch Address
“Avoiding 'Blah, Blah, Blah, Bang’"
Andrew C. Revkin, Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies; Senior Fellow of Environmental Understanding and New York Times Dot Earth Blogger

Click here for event registration form

Event Sponsored by:
Center for Environmental Legal Studies
Pace Energy and Climate Center
Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies
Pace Environmental Law Society
 

 

Corporation Counsel's Roundtable VIII

The Corporation Counsel’s Roundtable meetings are open to the corporation counsels and other legal staff from the nine cities in the Mayors' Redevelopment Roundtable program. As part of this program, the Kheel Center and Land Use Law Center are hosting the eighth installment of Roundtable meetings.  This event will built upon the last Roundtable topic of green industry and zoning by introducing how municipal attorneys could use a Workforce Investment Board to offer training for green jobs related to such zoning.  The meeting will also provide time for participants to collaborate in the creation of a list of legal initiatives needed at the state level (ranging from new legislation and funding to needed amendments to existing law).  The Corporation Counsel’s Roundtable was started as a way to address the many shared legal issues faced by its nine cities.  As part of the program, the attorneys are given a forum to discuss their common issues and possible solutions.

When: Thursday, September 16, 2010 (8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.)
Where: Room 305, New York State Judicial Institute (on the Pace Law School campus in White Plains, NY)

 

Corporation Counsel’s Roundtable VII

The Corporation Counsel’s Roundtable meetings are open to the corporation counsels and other legal staff from the nine cities in the Mayors' Redevelopment Roundtable program. As part of this program, the Kheel Center and Land Use Law Center are hosting the seventh installment of Roundtable meetings.  The main land use topic for this meeting will be green jobs and green industrial zoning, as well as some coverage of policy statements for vacant and distressed property initiatives.  The meeting’s practice issue will be the use of the municipal home rule law.  The Corporation Counsel’s Roundtable was started as a way to address the many shared legal issues faced by its nine cities.  As part of the program, the attorneys are given a forum to discuss their common issues and possible solutions.

When: Thursday, July 15, 2010 (8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.)
Where: Room 305, New York State Judicial Institute (on the Pace Law School campus in White Plains, NY)

 

Changing Times Changing Times - Changing Practice:
Effective Legal Strategies to Resolve New Environmental Disputes

  

The practice of law is expanding as environmental problems worsen, raising unique conflict resolution challenges: conflicts that involve new issues, multiple stakeholders, and, often, several jurisdictions. There is a need for new forums to supplement and substitute for adjudicatory tribunals.  Lawyers must learn new strategies to convene those affected and represent them successfully in these forums.  This conference examines several contexts where new approaches to lawyering are required and being used with success.  These include President Obama’s memorandum on collaborative governmental decision-making, the adjustment of property rights in communities threatened by sea level rise, the siting of energy generation and high-technology energy facilities, and new regulatory approaches to mitigate climate change involving energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Experienced attorneys who successfully use new conflict resolution strategies and forums for conflict management will discuss the role of lawyers in representing clients as this area of practice evolves, particularly in marshalling facts to define and resolve interests involved. Panelists will discuss real cases, practical tools and techniques, and successful forums and strategies.

When: November 17, 2009 (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Where:  The University Club, One West 54th Street, New York, NY (click here for directions)

Click here for program brochure, including further details on panels, session topics, and more.

Speakers:
Jessica Bacher, Senior Managing Attorney, Land Use Law Center
David Batson, Acting EPA Dispute Resolution Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Michael Bogert, Senior Counsel, Crowell & Moring, LLP
John Cappello, Esq., Partner, Jacobowitz & Gubits, LLP
Rachel E. Deming, Partner and Environmental Mediator, Scarola Ellis LLP
Pamela Esterman, Esq., Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C.
Curtis Fisher, Regional Executive Director, National Wildlife Federation’s Northeast Regional Center
al Peter V. K. Funk, Jr., Partner, Duane Morris LLP
Lisa F. Garcia, Chief Advocate for Environmental Justice and Equity, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Ridgway M. Hall, Jr., Crowell & Moring, LLP
Caroline G. Harris, Esq., GoldmanHarris LLC
William H. Hyatt, Jr., Partner, K & L Gates LLP
Howard Kaufman, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Leyland Alliance LLC
Robert M. Loughney, Esq., Couch White, LLP
Sarah G. Newkirk, Coastal Program Director, The Nature Conservancy
John R. Nolon, Esq., Director, The Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes
Michael L. Rodburg, Esq., Firm Chairman, Lowenstein Sandler PC
Cherie Shanteau-Wheeler, Senior Mediator/Senior Program Manager, U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution
George Stafford, Deputy Secretary of State, State of New York Department of State
Eleanor Stein, Esq., Administrative Law Judge, New York State Public Service Commission *affiliation for identification purposes only
Edna R. Sussman, Arbitrator and Mediator, SussmanADR LLC
Usha Wright, Esq., Executive Vice President, O’Brien & Gere

Co-Sponsors:
Lowenstein Sandler PC
Leyland Alliance
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP

Participating Sponsors:
American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
Environmental Law Institute
Federal Bar Association Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Section
Federal Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section
New York City Bar Environmental Law Committee
New York State Bar Dispute Resolution Section
Pace Law School Center for Environmental Legal Studies

 

ADR: Building Bridges to a Better Society
American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution
11th Annual Spring Conference

The American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution is hosting its 11th Annual Spring Conference – ADR: Building Bridges to a Better Society.  This four-day conference, dedicated to alternative methods of dispute resolution, is the largest and most comprehensive conference for dispute resolution professionals worldwide. The Conference offers 100 education sessions, informative and interactive exhibits, and many opportunities to network with peers.  Kheel Center staff and advisors will be presenting at this upcoming event.  

Kheel Center Panel: For over 30 years, professionals have excelled at environmental dispute resolution by discovering the interests of parties involved in rights-based litigation or regulatory proceedings and framing settlement agreements based on those interests.  This panel discusses a third arena of practice, beyond the reach of regulatory agencies and courts into the emerging conflicts precipitated by climate change and acute pressures on land and non-renewable resources.   Through interactive presentation and discussion, the panel will explore how the experience of ADR professionals can be used to educate and train lawyers who counsel the growing number of clients that contribute to these emerging environmental conflicts and have an interest in their proper management. The presenters are principals involved in the Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes at Pace University School of Law, which is engaged in exploring and answering this question.

When: April 15 - 18, 2009 (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
Where: Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, 811 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019

Click here for more information about this event
Click here to view the Program Brochure

 

Environmental Dispute Resolution Lunch-Lecture Series
  
CLE Credits: None

Presented by the Kheel Center and the Pace Environmental Law Review (PELR), this lunch-lecture series is intended for students and the Pace community.  As part of PELR’s first themed-issue on environmental dispute resolution, authors from the issue – Rachel Deming and Doug Hefferin - will present their ideas on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) within the environmental context.  The event will also provide an introduction to the Kheel Center and will highlight new ADR courses offered for next year.  A light lunch will be served.

When: Monday, March 23, 2009 (12:30 – 1:50 p.m.)
Where: C-202

Speakers:
Rachel E. Deming, Partner, Scarola Ellis LLP
Douglas J. Hefferin, Vice President, Environment, Health & Safety, Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation

 

Mediation of Administrative Environmental Matters
Outcomes, Opportunities, and Obstacles 
  

CLE Credits: 3.5

Presented by
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and
The Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes

  
Click here for program materials
(Please note, this is a large file.  You may have to refresh your page or select this
link several times for the document to appear.  We apologize for any inconvenience.)

Speakers will discuss the pros and cons of mediating various matters before Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). The first panel will cover mediation of environmental matters in federal and state agencies, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Justice, and NYS Department of Public Service, and in rate cases in the states of Washington and Oregon. The second panel of NYSDEC ALJs will use case studies to demonstrate where opportunities for mediation exist in NYSDEC administrative environmental matters, how attorneys and staff can use mediation in these matters, and how mediation works.

When: June 5, 2009 (8:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)
Where: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Room P.A. 129, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY
Audience: DEC Office of General Counsel, DEC technical staff, NYS AG’s Office, NYS Department of Public Service ALJs and attorneys from counsel’s office.

Speakers:
Alison Crocker, General Counsel, NYSDEC
Lester Levy, Esq., JAMS
Joan Leary Matthews, Associate Commissioner, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Hon. James T. McClymonds, Chief Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Patricia A. McKenna, Esq., Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Enforcement Section, Washington, D.C.
Hon. Daniel P. O’Connell, Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Joseph Siegel, Esq., Senior Attorney & Regional Alternative Dispute Resolution Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 2
Hon. Eleanor Stein, Administrative Law Judge, NYS Department of Public Service
James M. Van Nostrand, Esq., Executive Director, Pace Energy and Climate Center, Pace Law School
Hon. Maria E. Villa, Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC
Hon. Richard R. Wissler, Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings & Mediation Services, NYSDEC

 

2009 Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR)
Environment & Public Policy Section Conference
Managing Climate Change Through Collaborative Governance:
Addressing Policy Challenges Globally & Locally


The Environment and Public Policy Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution (EPP/ACR) and the University of Denver’s Conflict Resolution Institute will be convening practitioners of dispute management and collaborative decision-making, climate change policymakers, advocates, attorneys, and planners to participate as presenters in the 2009 Climate Change and Collaborative Governance Conference. The conference seeks to bring together individuals in the fields of environmental conflict resolution, collaborative decision-making, and deliberative democracy, with business, public/non-profit, scientists, and public officials from all levels of government to share knowledge of current tools for effective conflict management and collaborative decision-making around environmental and public policy issues. The conference will further explore innovative strategies and practices for resolving complex policy disputes and promoting collaborative decision-making; and develop a foundation for future efforts to apply dispute resolution and collaborative approaches to the management of climate change issues. This conference will explore potential paths to effectively respond to these emerging challenges and examine the practice of collaborative decision-making and conflict resolution not only from the perspective of climate change, where its usage is fairly recent, but also from the wide range of environmental and public policy issues that are part of our ongoing practice. The Kheel Center director John Nolon, and senior managing attorneys, Tiffany Zezula and Jessica Bacher will be discussing Creating Forums and Building Capacity to Manage Climate Change Conflicts.

When: June 11 - 13, 2009
Where: University of Denver

Click here for more information about this event