The Sands Family Foundation and Constellation Brands to Give $600,000 in Additional Funding to the Pace Food and Beverage Law Clinic

The Sands Family Foundation and Constellation Brands have agreed to give an additional $600,000 in funding to Haub Law’s Food and Beverage Law Clinic, bringing their total commitment to the Clinic to $1 million.

The Food and Beverage Law Clinic is the first law school clinic in the country entirely dedicated to providing direct, transactional legal services to food, farming, and beverage clients. Under faculty supervision, law students in the Clinic represent farmers, food and beverage entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations seeking to improve our food system. The Clinic is part of John Jay Legal Services, Inc., a nonprofit legal services organization housed at Haub Law, and is a component of the Pace-NRDC Food Law Initiative, a partnership between Haub Law and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). 

The Sands Family Foundation and Constellation Brands have committed to make matching grants totaling $600,000 over five years, which will match any funding for the Clinic raised from other sources. This is in addition to the original $400,000 the Foundation and Constellation Brands gave to launch the Clinic in 2016.

In the past year the Clinic has also received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the New York State Health Foundation, and American Farmland Trust.

 “The Food and Beverage Clinic does transformative work in supporting local entrepreneurs and helping clients address inequities in our food system,” said Haub Law Dean Horace Anderson.  “It also gives our students valuable hand-on experience and training in practicing transactional law, and has played a vital role in putting Haub Law at the forefront of the growing field of food law. We are enormously grateful to our alumnus, Rob Sands, for his continuing support and vision for this project."

"I am thrilled to be able to continue supporting this first-of-its-kind endeavor," said Rob Sands, executive chair and former CEO of Constellation Brands and an alumnus of Haub Law. “In these difficult times, farmers and new food and beverage businesses need more help than ever. I am gratified to support this important work while also supporting my alma mater.”

The Clinic’s Director, Prof. Jonathan Brown, said the funding will ensure that the work of the Clinic will survive and thrive. “I am thrilled and honored to be able to continue and grow the work of the Food and Beverage Law Clinic,” said Prof. Brown, who has just been appointed to the full-time Haub Law faculty as Professor of Law for Designated Project or Service. “There is a huge need for legal services to help nurture a more just and sustainable system. I am proud of the impact the Clinic’s work has for our clients, and proud to see our amazing students develop as lawyers as they experience this exciting area of practice,” he said.

About Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University offers J.D. and Masters of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Environmental Law. The school, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, N.Y., opened its doors in 1976 and has over 8,500 alumni around the world. The school maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory. For more information about Haub Law, visit http://law.pace.edu

Haub Law launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978, and it has long been ranked among the world’s leading university programs. Pace’s doctoral graduates teach environmental law at universities around the world. Pace’s J.D. alumni are prominent in environmental law firms, agencies and non-profit organizations across the U.S. and abroad. In 2016, the Law School received a transformational gift from the family of Elisabeth Haub, in recognition of its outstanding environmental law programs. For more information on the Pace Environmental Law Program, visit http://law.pace.edu/environment