March 2018
In This Issue

The Sustainable Energy Initiative has multiple projects on-going. Three primary areas of research and programming this year are: microgrids, planning for smart rebuilds following natural disasters, and electrification of the transportation sector. A roundtable discussion on the latter will be held on March 23 ( register here) with a major conference planned for this fall. Roundtable discussions on the other topics will be held later this year. We’re also launching a new energy alumni community initiative. 

Our companion program in environmental law will be hosting its annual Shapiro conference on March 15 and 16. The law school is also rolling out more opportunities for non-lawyers interested in law. Read on for more details!
Writing the Road Atlas for Transportation Electrification
Register now for SEI’s first roundtable discussion on electrification of the transportation sector to be held on March 23. This discussion is intended to surface the most pressing issues in preparation for a more formal one- or two-day conference in the fall. We’d like to get your thoughts on the future of electrification of the transportation sector – inclusive of passenger vehicles, trucking, rail, mass transit, ports, and airport ground services – and what it takes to get there. 

Professor Joel Eisen, University of Richmond, has agreed to set the framework and help facilitate the discussion. Following the format of the very well-received GW Law roundtables conducted this past fall, we will strive to assure a rich mix of experts, learned participants, and students. There are no formal presentations (beyond Professor Eisen’s opening remarks), but rather issues will be teed up for group discussion and all participants are expected to share and learn. Participants are expected to attend for the entire 2.5 hour session, 9 am-11:30 am. Seats are limited. For more information and to register, click here.

As with past roundtables, the proceedings are conducted under Chatham House Rule, but the conference will be recorded to facilitate preparation of a conference report. The report will be publicly available, as are our past reports on Consumer Protection and Universal Service and Microgrids. The conference is supported by the J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro Fund. Please come and help shape the future! 
The Public Trust Doctrine in the 21st Century
Join The George Washington University Law School, the Journal of Energy and Environmental Law, GW Environmental & Energy Law Association, and the Environmental Law Institute for a symposium on the Public Trust Doctrine in Washington, D.C. on March 15-16.

The Public Trust Doctrine is rooted, at least in part, in the 800-year old Charter of the Forests and remains a subject of significant debate today. The symposium will reflect on the role of the Charter of the Forests and the development of the Public Trust Doctrine in the United States, and explore the role of Public Trust Doctrine today in contexts including climate, water resources, state constitutions, and other settings.

The symposium brings together some of the foremost experts on public trust issues in the United States and Canada who hold a variety of perspectives on the doctrine to discuss the evolving role that it plays today with respect to climate change, public lands, water rights, and other critical environmental and natural resource issues. The symposium is supported by the J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro Fund. As in past years, it will also be the occasion for announcing the winner of the Grodsky prize for the best student paper on an environmental or energy law topic.

For more information and to register, click here.
Masters of Studies in Law

Are you, or do you know, a non-lawyer who would like to know more about oil and gas law, federal lands, health care law, the legislative process, or any of a myriad of other laws and legal issues?

GW Law is developing a new program designed for non-lawyers interested in law, which it expects to launch this spring for August 2018 enrollment. Finalization of these plans is subject to receipt of acquiescence from the American Bar Association (ABA), which GW Law hopes to receive by the end of March. 

The program is intended for professionals who are not interested in earning a law degree or practicing law, yet work in jobs where the knowledge of law is nevertheless important. For example, federal or governmental affairs officers, journalists, consultants, expert witnesses who testify before government agencies, compliance officers, procurement specialists and others are expected to find the new degree option appealing. 

The new Masters of Studies in Law (MSL) will be a degree program, designed for maximum flexibility to accommodate full-time students interested in completing the degree in one year to part-time students who may only wish to take one or two courses a semester. Enrolled students will take courses on the Foggy Bottom campus, alongside JD and LLM students.  

Students will be able to design programs suitable to their needs and interests, although it is expected that many students will elect to concentrate in one of the subject areas in which GWU is known to excel, including, for example, energy and environmental law, government procurement law, national security law, and intellectual property law. Students completing the 24 credit program will be awarded the MSL degree, with a notation regarding their area of concentration, from GW Law. 

Tuition will be based on credit-hours, which will allow students to proceed through the program at their own pace. This structure also provides a cost-competitive alternative for students interested in taking only one or two courses as compared to short commercial seminars or on-line offerings. The students will have the benefit of high-quality offerings, live instruction, interaction with their classmates both during and outside of class, and a full 13 weeks of classes each semester.  

GW expects to begin accepting applications on a rolling basis, after the ABA review is complete, for enrollment in the semester beginning in August 2018. Applicants must have completed their undergraduate degree (by time of enrollment) and applicants will also be evaluated based on their work as well as academic history.

For more information about the program, contact Shehernaz Joshi at [email protected]. Additional contacts are:  [email protected] for energy law; and [email protected] for environmental law. If you are interested in other specialty focused programs, any of the above will be happy to direct you further. 
Invitation to the Energy Alumni Community of GW Law
For a student considering GW Law, its alumni community can be an important factor. This is the network that will help sustain the student for the rest of her career. If you are an alumni of GW Law, you have an opportunity to help yourself, graduating students, and colleagues by becoming more engaged in that community. We invite you to be a founding member of a local chapter of the “GW Law Energy Connection.” 

GW Law is fortunate to have an extensive energy law alumni network. Energy law was first added to the curriculum in 1978 and we now offer roughly ten courses each academic year in energy, in addition to our even more expansive environmental law curriculum. Our graduates have permeated every corner of the industry, holding positions that have included Chairs, Commissioners, and staff members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; general counsels and in-house counsel for large and small energy companies ranging from well-established companies with long pedigrees to new and innovative disruptors; practice group leaders and outstanding practitioners at private law firms across the country; leaders of trade associations; law professors and Deans; attorneys in city, state, and local government; practitioners in non-governmental organizations; presidents of the Energy Bar Association; and countless other positions of note. Our rolls include over 700 living alumni who we know are engaged in the energy sector, and undoubtedly many more who we haven’t yet identified.

What happens when GW Law alumni connect? Past experiences have included an alumnus inspiring a student to participate in a moot court competition that she might not have otherwise considered. And an alumnus who just weeks earlier started his first permanent job, working for a government agency, meeting a fellow alumnus, who was the head of that agency. Certainly there are many other examples of great connections established, and now you have the opportunity to create your own. By participating in this effort, you too can help inspire our students, make new professional and social connections, and hopefully have fun while giving back to your GW Law energy community. We envision the membership of each local chapter determining its own activities, which could include, for example, outreach to admitted students, social events, welcomes for new graduates, or community projects, with the overall goal of creating a stronger energy law network.  

If you are interested in being a founding member of a local GW Law Energy Connection, please contact Donna Attanasio, [email protected], or Emily Ancinec, [email protected], so we can help you connect and organize.
Faculty and Staff Updates

Our faculty and staff’s recent publications and presentations are below.
Professor Rob Glicksman: 
  • “Reorganizing Government: Functional Differentiation of Centralized and Decentralized Authority,” presentation to Yale Law School class on Regulatory Design (20051-01) (presented remotely by Zoom) (Nov. 15, 2017).
  • “The Fate of the Clean Power Plan in the Trump Era,” presentation as part of discussion on papers published in the Carbon and Climate Law Review, GW Law (Dec. 8, 2017).
  • “Enforcement of U.S. Environmental Law,” day-long presentation to Chinese environmental enforcement official sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund, Falls Church, VA (Dec. 14, 2017).
  • “Creative Regulators and Environmental Protection,” discussant at symposium on “Regulatory Reform, Transparency, and the American Economy,” George Mason University Law School, Arlington, VA (Feb. 2, 2018).
  • “Adaptive Governance of Natural Resources,” presentation and participation at SESYNC Adaptive Governance Workshop, Annapolis, MD (Feb. 7-9, 2018).
Associate Dean Lee Paddock: 
  • “Green Supply Chain Management” presentation at a University of Arkansas Law Review symposium in Fayetteville, Arkansas on October 27.
  • Lee Paddock and Natasha Rao (2L), “Green Supply Chain Management: A Perspective on Best Practices in GSCM Design” (forthcoming University of Arkansas Law Review)
Professor Emily Hammond:
  • Testimony before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment on policy matters related to the Clean Air Act, and before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety regarding bills that would amend the Clean Air Act. 
  • At the invitation of the Commissioners, presented at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at a public hearing on citizen petition processes and administrative law. 
  • Presentations on on-going research at Arizona State, University of Cincinnati, Florida State, and University of Oregon and quoted in a variety of media outlets on matters involving the Trump Administration and energy, environmental, and administrative law.
Senior Advisor for Energy Law Programs, Donna Attanasio: 
  • “Collaborative Conversations: Microgrid Regulation…Or Not?” reprinted by Microgrid Knowledge.
Upcoming Events

March 8: Energy Bar Association’s Southern Chapter Spring Conference, multiple locations.

March 12-13: Energy Bar Association’s Midwest Chapter Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
 
March 15-16: J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro Symposium: Public Trust Doctrine, GW Law School, Washington DC. For more information and to register, click here.

March 23: Collaborative Conversations: Writing the Road Atlas for Transportation
Electrification, roundtable discussion, GW Law, Washington DC. For more information and to register, click here.

May 7-8: Energy Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, Washington DC

May 7: Charitable Foundation of the Energy Bar Association’s Gala:  Light & Hope for Puerto Rico
Summer Job Opportunity

This summer, a team of GW professors will be leading a research project designed to facilitate rebuilding electric grids, after damage from a natural disaster, using advanced technologies suitable for 21st century needs. Assistance of one or two graduate-student researchers are needed. The paid position will be a temporary (summer), full-time position. The issue requires a multi-disciplinary approach and therefore there is no restriction on the educational background of applicants; for example, law, engineering, public policy, business and others may be well-suited. Applicants with outstanding research and writing skills, and relevant course work or employment experience may contact [email protected] for more information.