Environmental

Environmental Negotiations

Skills — 2 units. Students in environmental negotiations will practice identifying the most relevant facts in controversy, and based on the facts, what legal theories are likely to apply, what remedies are available and likely to be sought, and potential defenses. Components of the course include exercises relevant to statutory interpretation and agency rulemaking. Students will practice analysis of applicable rules, statutes, jury instructions, and case precedent, development of a negotiation framework consistent with the law, ethical duties, and a client's objectives.

Food Innovation Law and Policy Seminar

Seminar — 1 unit. The Food Innovation, Law and Policy Seminar introduces students to the exciting world of new food discoveries and their relationship to food law and policy. UC Davis, ranked no. 1 in the world for agriculture, including food science and technology, produces innovative food products and processes through various campus centers.

Small Farmer Water Justice Clinic

Clinic – 3 to 5 units. Groundwater is an essential resource for California’s billion-dollar farm economy. Historically, groundwater has been largely unmanaged in many parts of the state, which has led to declining groundwater levels, land subsidence, and reduced groundwater quality. In 2014, the Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to regulate groundwater use in California statewide for the first time through local groundwater agencies under state supervision.

Conscious Lawyering

Skills — 1 unit. This course will introduce students to the practice of conscious lawyering, including concepts in professional and personal identity, self-awareness, focus, emotional intelligence, cultural and personal values, mindfulness, meditation, and mind-body connection. This course will help train students to be mindful and aware while engaging in the practice of law including litigation, negotiations, transactional deals, client management, and day-to-day work in a law practice.

Business Law and Climate Change

Seminar – 3 units. Climate change is redefining the business and investment community's business norms and transforming traditional corporate law paradigms. This highly interactive seminar will use case studies to explore the current intersection of business law and climate risk. We will discuss and debate the following questions:1) Do corporate boards have a fiduciary duty to oversee climate risk? In all industries or only "high impact" ones? 2) Will the evolution of "green" or sustainable investing minimize or exacerbate the impacts of climate change?

Biodiversity Law

Seminar — 2 units. This course will cover the law of biodiversity, with a focus on the laws of the United States. We will review the science of biodiversity and biodiversity loss, and then examine laws addressing biodiversity at the federal, state, and local levels. We will cover biodiversity law, ecosystem management, and emerging challenges like climate change and renewable energy development. The course will be graded based on short response papers and participation in class discussions.

Drafting a Solar Farm Bill Practicum

Skills — 2 units. Drafting a Solar Farm Bill is a practicum in which the class acts as an advisory law firm for its client, a solar farm bill solution and its facilitator, the educational non-profit Climate Solutions Advocacy Institute (CSAI). The class objective is to provide the client with a white paper that can advise CSAI in its development of a massive solar farm bill, financed by green bonds.

Advanced Topics in Administrative Law

Seminar — 2 units. Much of our modern federal government relies on administrative agencies exercising authority delegated to them by Congress. Federal courts have traditionally deferred to agencies’ implementation of the statutes they administer, although these courts also set aside (or “vacate”) agency actions they find to be unlawful. In recent years, however, several justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have openly called for revisiting several administrative law doctrines that underlie this system.

Administrative Law

Lecture — 3 units. Course examines how the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act constrain and regulate decision making by government agencies and officials. Topics include administrative due process, separation of powers, delegation of authority to agencies, procedural requirements for agency adjudication and rulemaking, and the extent and limits of judicial review. This course is highly recommended for anyone intending to practice in any public law area or at the intersection of public/private law.

Final Assessment: Exam

Energy Law

Discussion — 2 units. This course explores the history, law, and public policy of energy regulation in the United States, emphasizing economic and environmental regulation. Competitive restructuring of the natural gas and electric utility industries is emphasized. The basic regulatory schemes for other energy sources—hydroelectric power, coal, oil, and nuclear power—are explored depending on class interest. This seminar is recommended to anyone interested in the energy sector, various models of economic regulation, or regulated industries.