Donna Gerson (donna@donna gerson.com) speaks at law schools and writes on legal career issues. She is author of Building Career Connections: Networking Tools for Law Students and New Lawyers (NALP, 2007).

Michael, what prompted you to specialize in environmental law?
I grew up in Charleston, West Virginia, which is a town dominated by the chemical industry. When I was a kid in the 1960s, we lived on the banks of the Kanawha River, which at the time was receiving a great deal of water pollution from chemical manufacturing plants. So I grew up seeing and smelling pollution every day. I came to New York to attend college in 1968 and was there during the first Earth Day in 1970. I wrote my college thesis on pollution in West Virginia. That launched my interest in environmental law.

Tell me about your career path.
After I graduated from college, I worked for three years, including two years at a nonprofit environmental group in New York City. I entered law school with the specific intention of becoming an environmental lawyer. When I graduated, I went to work for a small environmental boutique firm with about 15 lawyers in New York. I practiced there for 16 years, beginning as an associate and becoming a partner, until the firm broke up in 1994. When that happened, I moved to Arnold & Porter, started an environmental practice in our New York office, and brought with me all of my clients and several of my associates.

During your time at the small environmental law firm, you took a two-year leave of absence early in your legal career to pursue two opportunities in the public sector. What prompted those moves?
I spent a year working for the New York City Mayor’s Office on mass transit issues and then spent a year as special counsel to the chairman of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. An opportunity arose to do some exciting work in the mayor’s office. I had been actively involved in mass transit issues for some time and this enabled me to work full time on mass transit issues. Describe the range of work that an environmental lawyer might perform. The practice of environmental law in private law firms mostly falls into four categories: litigation, transactions, project development, and regulatory compliance.

Can you describe each of these categories?
The litigation work involves a wide variety of disputes, most commonly issues relating to the financial responsibility for the cleanup of contaminated property, but there is also a large amount of litigation about indemnification agreements, the applicability of certain environmental rules, about the kinds of penalties, if any, that should be imposed, about common law liability, about the issuance and terms of permits, and many other areas. The transactional work is largely doing the environmental piece of corporate and real estate transactions. It has become commonplace before buying or selling a company or a significant piece of property to study its environmental condition—especially if there is any concern about contamination—and to make provisions for the allocation of risk between the parties. Project development involves proposals to build an industrial facility or other kind of project, securing the permits that are needed from various environmental and zoning agencies and arranging the financing. Finally, regulatory compliance is advising companies and other entities on what environmental laws apply to them and what they need to do to get in or stay in compliance.

Are there other areas of law that global climate change might influence?
Federal legislation will likely include a cap and trade system, which is similar in some way to commodities trading, so people who have training in commodities trading will have an advantage for that aspect of practice. The fight against climate change is also leading to explosive growth in certain industries such as renewable energy and energy conservation. So transactional work relating to these industries is very hot. There is increasing work in the insurance, real estate, construction, agricultural, and other areas coping with the impacts of climate change. Finally, water rights law will be an increasing issue, particularly in the western U.S.

You practice with a very large law firm. How does your practice differ from practice at a small firm or at a government agency?
We probably have a greater diversity of matters than a small firm would have and are able to take on matters with higher stakes. That requires more interdisciplinary teams. The work of a law firm is entirely different from the work of a governmental agency. Governmental agency work tends to be much more heavily oriented to regulatory compliance and enforcement, and to policy formulation.

Global climate change is real and is impacting our planet. Are there particular legal developments that law students can track with regard to global climate change?
Today, the most important development is the emergence of a mandatory federal regulatory scheme. The Senate debated briefly a bill in early June [S-2191, the Lieberman-Warner bill]. It did not secure enough votes to avoid a filibuster, but both Senator McCain and Senator Obama favor mandatory legislation. It certainly will be debated again in 2009 and most people believe a law will be enacted within one to three years after the new president takes office. Students can follow legislative issues through resources such as the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), Greenwire (www.greenwire.com), and LEXIS/NEXIS. To follow the latest caselaw developments, I maintain a website that posts all the U.S. cases on climate change (www.climatecasechart.com).

Any other legislative or policy issues pending?
There are ongoing international negotiations regarding what will follow the Kyoto Protocol when its current obligations end in 2012. We’re also seeing a great deal of activity at the state and regional levels. The state and regional activity may subside after there is a federal law if it is felt to be stringent enough.

Since you started practicing environmental law, how has the practice area changed?
In the late ’80s, there was a tremendous increase in activity under CERCLA [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act], which is also known as the Superfund Law, and associated laws concerning hazardous waste contamination. Love Canal was one of the things that sparked the enactment of CERCLA in 1980, but it took a few years before the legal work began to take off. From the late ’80s through the ’90s that area dominated environmental law practice. That has subsided somewhat as many of the difficult legal issues have mostly been resolved. Now much more attention is going to climate change, and that is likely to increase. What credentials do you value when assessing a law student or lateral candidate who wants to practice in the area of environmental law? The threshold, or a very important criterion, is their academic background. What law school did they go to and how well did they do? Beyond that, if someone wants specifically to do environmental law, prior experience such as internships and clinics are quite helpful. Some scientific or engineering background is not essential but it is a plus. Demonstrated writing ability and other communication skills, and an ability to juggle several demands at the same time, are definitely useful.

Do firms value federal government agency work, such as work at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?
Yes, but it depends on what you did there, how long you did it, and what kind of assistance the firm needs, so certainly work for a government agency can be helpful in developing an expertise. If someone stays at an agency for too many years, unless they rise to a significant level in the agency, that can become a problem in terms of integrating them in the firm, promotion, and billing rates. Are there courses beyond the survey and upper-level offerings in environmental law that students should take? Administrative law is essential since the environmental laws are implemented by administrative agencies and most litigation is in the administrative law context. Tax law is very helpful not so much because of its substance but because it’s the best way to get training in the meticulous examination of how statutes and regulations work and how to navigate the complex definitions and other provisions. Real estate law and corporate finance law are very helpful for transactional work.

Beyond participating in an environmental law clinic, what other live-client clinics would you recommend to law students?
I took a clinic in federal civil litigation that involved work at the U.S. Attorney’s office. I found that very valuable.

What are your feelings about specialty certificate programs in environmental law?
If you do not attend a top-tier law school, a certificate in environmental law can provide a boost on one’s résumé. It’s not essential, but it can be helpful. The same goes for dual-degree programs. If you earn a dual degree in a directly allied field to environmental law, it can be a help.

How much stock do you put into specific environmental experience such as internships?
I would say that almost all of the young lawyers who get jobs in environmental law with law firms have some internship experience. Doing an internship in the environmental field is good training. It gives you good contacts and it demonstrates a real interest. There are many students who claim an environmental interest but don’t have anything on their résumé to back it up. An internship or several internships over a period of years go a long way to demonstrating the genuineness and depth of the interest.

What role can lawyers play in affecting global climate change?
The law will play a central role in solving the climate change problem. International, federal, and state legislation all play important roles. Lawyers will be needed to write the laws and regulations, to advise companies on what their obligations are, to help companies and governments build the projects, and to carry out the hard work necessary to solve this problem.

Have you noticed a movement to focus on having more environmentally friendly law offices?
Yes, and the ABA has an important initiative on green law offices. They have put out guidelines on how law firms can reduce environmental impact and they have asked firms to take a pledge. Arnold & Porter was one of the first firms to sign that pledge.

Have law schools done the same?
I think a number have. In general, there is a great movement toward greening at most colleges and universities.

If you had to advise law students on the top actions they can take to help the environment, what would they be?
Use mass transit or a bicycle. If you have to use a car, use a small one. Do as much online as possible. If you have to use paper, print on both sides and use recycled paper. Moderate how much meat you eat because meat production is very environmentally inefficient. Turn off your computer, the lights, and everything else you are not using.

Any last thoughts for our readers?
We are entering an era when environmental law will become much more important. I think there is going to be an increasing number of career opportunities in the field, and the successful implementation of the laws will be crucial to the future health of the planet.

Michael Gerrard Résumé Highlights

Education
Columbia University, B.A., 1972
New York University School of Law, J.D., 1978
Root-Tilden scholar

Work Experience
Arnold & Porter, New York, NY, 1994–present
Berle Kass and Case, New York, NY, 1978–94
During his tenure at Berle Kass and Case, Gerrard took a leave to work in the public sector:
New York City Mayor’s Office, 1982, advising the mayor on mass transit issues
Special counsel to the chairman of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 1983

Bar Association Membership
ABA, Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Section Chair, 2004–05
New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Section Chair, 1995–96
New York City Bar Association Chair, Executive Committee, 1997–98

Bar Admissions
New York State, U.S. Supreme Court

Environmental Law Resources
Learn more about environmental law through the following organizations and opportunities for work experience:

The ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
(www.abanet.org/environ) offers educational and networking opportunities for lawyers and law students working in the areas related to environmental law, national resources law, and energy law. It offers law student fellowships in environmental law, the opportunity to attend Section meetings and conferences, writing competitions, a mentoring program, and a minority fellowship in environmental law aimed at minority law students. The section also works closely with the National Association of Environmental Law Societies, which is a group of law school environmental law societies. Also investigate environmental law sections through your state and local bar associations.

Environmental Law Institute
(www.eli.org) offers law students a special annual membership rate of $25. Students receive the bimonthly policy magazine, The Environmental Forum, via e-mail as a PDF. Students may also take advantage of the large library of audio files of past events on environmental law and policy, including their annual summer school series on the major environmental statutes.

If your law school offers an environmental law clinic, consider participating. You will gain practical experience, see environmental lawyers in action, and determine if this is a good career choice for you.

Consider securing an internship with a legal employer that specializes in environmental law. While some small and midsize law firms practice exclusively in the area of environmental law, also consider internships with the federal, state, or local environmental agency. The Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov) offers internships for law students.

Consider becoming a research assistant for a faculty member who specializes in environmental law. Serving as a research assistant enables you to learn firsthand about specific environmental law issues, perform research, edit, investigate, and broaden your circle of networking contacts.

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