Syllabus
Date Lectures Readings
1/23 & 1/28 Environmental Law: An Environmentalist Perspective Plater: Ch. 1(pp. 1-38), Ch. 2 (pp. 97- 109)
 
  1. Ecological and Ethical Bases of Environmental Law
  2. The Tragedy of the Commons and of Road Salt
  3. The Heart of the Matter: Contending Forces
  4. Strategies of Environmental Law: Pursuing the Road Salt Issue
 
1/30 Exercise #1: Legal Research and the Use of the Columbia Law Library (due 2/13)
     
2/4 & 2/6 Introduction to the U.S. Legal System  
 
  1. Origins and History
  2. The Judiciary and Case Law
  3. The Legislature and Statutory Law
  4. The Executive and Administrative Law
  5. Secondary Authority
  6. Classification of American Law: Case and Statutory Law, Public and Private Law,
    Civil And Criminal Law, Substance and Procedure
  7. The Structure of the U.S. Legal System
  8. Procedure and the Litigation Process
 
2/11& 2/13 Environmental Torts: Non-Statutory Causes of Action: Liabilities, Remedies, and Common Law Theories Plater, Ch. 3 (pp. 158-170)
 
  1. The Boomer Case: Private Nuisance and Intentional Tort
  2. Remedies: Equity, Injunctions, and Damages
  3. How to Brief a Case
 
2/18 Exercise #2: Shepardizing and Briefing a Case (due 3/4)
     
2/20 & 2/25 Economics, Risk Management, and Environmental Policy Making Plater, Ch. 2
 
  1. Externalities: An Economic Analysis of the Commons
  2. Cost-Benefit Analysis,Uncertainty, and Risk
  3. A Case Study: Wilsonville
 
2/27, 3/4 3/6 & 3/11 Case Studies in Tort Causes of Action Plater: Ch. 3 (pp. 171-232)
 
  1. State of New York v. Schenectady Chemical Co.
  2. Spur Industries, Inc. v. Del Webb Development Co.
  3. Borland v. Sanders Lead Co.
  4. Dillon v. Acme Oil Company
  5. Branch v. Western Petroleum, Inc
  6. Fischer v. Johns-Manville Corp.
  7. Pruitt v. Allied Chemical Corp.
 
3/13 Midterm Exam
 
     
3/12-3/16 Spring Break: No Classes  
     
3/25 Litigating Toxic Torts Plater: Ch. 4 & Civil Action

 

3/27, 4/1, & 4/3
  1. "Civil Action": Lessons of Woburn

    Exercise #3: A Memorandum of Law (due 4/10)

  2. Remedies for Victims of Toxic contamination:
    1. Anderson v. W.R. Grace & Co., Beatrice Foods Co., et al.
    2. Ayers v. Township of Jackson
  3. Proof of Complex Causation:
    1. Chevron Chemical Company v. Ferebee
    2. Landrigan v. Celotex Corp.
  4. Multiple Tortfeasors and Joint and Several Liability:
    1. Velsicol Chemical Corporation v. Rowe
  5. Law and Science in Toxic Torts:
    1. Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  6. The Interplay Between Common Law and Public Law
 
4/8 Regulatory Public Law: The Evolution of Environmental Statutes Plater, Ch. 5
 
Final Research Paper: How Case Law Defines a Statute
     
4/10, 4/15 & 4/17 The Administrative Law of Environmental Law Plater, Ch.7
 
  1. Citizen Suits and Judicial Review:
    1. The Overton Park Case
  2. Standing and the Storm King Controversy:
    1. Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission
  3. Judicial Review: How Judges Give Meaning to the Statutes:
    1. Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council
 

4/22 & 4/24

 Roadblock Statutes: The Endangered Species Act Plater,Ch.14

  1. Substantive Roadblocks: Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973,a Stark Prohibition Statute:
    1. Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hiram Hill
    2. Seattle Audubon Society v. U.S. Forest Service
  2. ESA Section 9 and the "No Take" Provision:
    1. Bruce Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter
 

4/29,5/1, & 5/6

 Local Law, Zoning , and Development.  
     
TBA Final Exam: 1-3 PM