PEAC maximizes its impact through the work of committed law students. While PEAC's staff retains ultimate responsibility for case prosecution, students play a vital role in PEAC by participating in all phases of the clinic’s work. Students draft pleadings and motions, formulate arguments and strategy, and participate in client contacts.

In addition to receiving invaluable hands-on experience, students earn law school credit for their work with PEAC. The environmental clinic class supplements student casework by providing additional instruction on the practice of environmental law. The class meets once per week. Class topics include informal discussions about current projects, lectures on aspects of environmental practice, and contact with local practitioners.

Interested in Joining PEAC?

PEAC welcomes all Lewis & Clark law students to apply to join our clinical training program. Please note that the application deadline for admission to the 2009-10 PEAC class has passed. Check back next spring for an updated Student Information Sheet and PEAC Application Form.

Tomorrow's Advocates Clerkship Program

Last year, PEAC partnered with the Lazar Foundation to launch a new program that complements our clinical mission: “Tomorrow’s Advocates.” As part of the program, PEAC hired three extraordinary law students as summer clerks, offering each individual an intense real-world advocacy experience.

In 2008, PEAC's advocates included the Editor-in-Chief of the Environmental Law Review, a recipient of the President’s Environmental Youth Award, and the First Place Awardee of national moot court and brief writing competitions.

Read more about the "Tomorrow's Advocates" program.

PEAC Class of 2009

PEAC Class of 2008-09: (front row, left) Oday Salim, Lori Ann Burd, Kristen Monsell, Erica Maharg, Mark Billingsley, (back row) David Turk, Jane Steadman, Hallison Putnam, Tarah Heizen, Gilbert Mears, Julie Nimnicht, Neal Clark, Johannes Epke, Matt Moore

PEAC offers hands-on opportunities for law students to be involved in real-world practical advocacy at a level unmatched by clinical programs around the nation. The PEAC experience is cited as a leading reason for aspiring environmental attorneys to chose Lewis and Clark Law School. Where law school graduates and associates at private firms rarely lead or litigate federal cases until many years into their careers, PEAC law students consult, research, draft and attend agency, state and federal arguments all the way up to the Ninth Circuit and, in one case, the Supreme Court.

PEAC Students Sweep Moot Court Championship

In February 2009, the national environmental moot court team swept the championship at Pace Law School for the sixth time in 16 years. Congratulations on a tremendous achievement!

Check out Lewis and Clark Law School's coverage or go to the Pace Law School website for more details about the 2009 National Environmental Moot Court Competition.

PEAC Class of 2008

PEAC Class of 2007-08: (front row, left) Katie Strong, Allison Eschel, Lisa Widawsky, Naeem Nuwala, (back row) Drew Kerr, Claire Tonry, Amanda Michael, Brook Brisson, Bethany Cotton, Austin Saylor, Liz Crosson, Erin Smith, Natasha Bellis, Tucker Henson

PEAC Students Make National Moot Court Headlines

In 2008, several PEAC students participated on moot court teams and victoriously seized two national championships.

Check out Lewis and Clark Law School's coverage of the 2008 National Environmental Moot Court Competition or visit the Pace Law School website for more details.

PEAC staff attorney Allison LaPlante served as the lead coach for the animal law moot court teams, one of which earned the national championship for the second year in a row. Check out Lewis and Clark Law School's coverage of the 2008 National Animal Advocacy Appellate Moot Court Competition or visit the official competition page for more details.

JANE STEADMAN, PEAC Student

Degree:

J.D. ’09

Hometown:

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Background:

B.A., Kalamazoo College

Why law school?

I came to law school because I wanted to become a public interest environmental attorney. I had been working as a grassroots organizer for a few years, and I felt the law would provide me another tool in my toolbox of skills and strategies for effecting the change I believe our country needs to make in its treatment of the natural world.

Why Lewis & Clark?

Since my goal in attending law school was to become a public interest environmental attorney, Lewis & Clark Law School was an obvious choice. Lewis and Clark provides an unparalleled range of environmental courses and clinical opportunities for upper level students. Even in their first year, students have opportunities to volunteer with on-campus environmental groups like the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, allowing the students to gain real legal experience prior to even their first summer clerkship. In addition, the environmental faculty and staff are committed to providing students with the practical skills needed to succeed as environmental attorneys. Plus, I was already living in Portland, and I love it here.

Why PEAC?

One of the reasons I wanted to come to Lewis and Clark was that I knew I would be able to work with the great attorneys at PEAC. I was impressed with PEAC’s docket as an organizer working on salmon issues in the Pacific Northwest prior to law school, and I have continued to be impressed with the organization as a law student. I wanted to get involved with PEAC to work on cases that aim to maintain and enhance the quality of life we enjoy in the Pacific Northwest through preservation of our natural surroundings. I also knew PEAC would help me further develop my practical legal skills.

What are you working on at PEAC?

While at PEAC, I have focused primarily on salmon issues, which coincides nicely with my pre-law school organizing experience. I have worked on challenges under the Endangered Species Act to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s critical habitat analysis in the 2008 Federal Columbia River Hydropower System Biological Opinion and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s failure to consult on listed species of salmon and steelhead before implementing its flood insurance program, which allows development in flood plains. I have also worked on challenges under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act to the Army Corps of Engineers’s decision to allow the City of Lake Oswego to build a dock for luxury yachts in some of the last habitat that can support salmon spawning and rearing in the lower Willamette River.

Favorite educational moment at PEAC?

Generally, I really enjoy the strategy sessions in the weekly meeting with all of the attorneys and clerks. Listening to and participating in these sessions has been a wonderful experience because it has provided me a new perspective on how attorneys decide to bring a case or make strategic decisions during the course of a case. Because we discuss all the cases the organization is working on, these meetings have provided me a breadth of strategic understanding I did not gain through my prior clerkships, where I focused solely on the cases on which I was working.

Favorite non-educational moment at PEAC?

Dan Mensher’s description of how his tie helped him win an oral argument.

How do you think your PEAC experience will impact your future goals?

PEAC has allowed me to further develop my legal research and writing skills, while introducing me to the thinking behind strategic decisions lawyers must make on a day-to-day basis. Along with the other clerkships I have had during law school, PEAC has helped prepare me to hit the ground running in my first position as an attorney. I’m grateful for the practical experience and mentorship the clinic and its attorneys have provided me.

What are your post-graduate goals?

My clerkships with PEAC, Earthjustice, the Crag Law Center, the Oregon Natural Desert Association, and the International Environmental Law Project have been truly great experiences and have confirmed that I want to be a public interest environmental attorney. At present, I am searching for such a position.