Harvard Law School will establish the Emmett Environmental Law Center and create a first-of-its-kind environmental moot court institute with a $15 million gift from alumnus Dan Emmett.
Jody Freeman, professor of law and founding director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program at HLS, called the gift a “gamechanger.”
She said the goal of the Emmett Environmental Law Center is to educate students and develop durable legal strategies to address the nation’s biggest environmental challenges, including threats to the air, water, wilderness, climate and public health.
HLS’s new environmental moot court institute will enable attorneys to practice and develop their arguments in front of the law school’s environmental law experts.
While venues exist to rehearse arguing before the United States Supreme Court, the HLS initiative will be the only moot court focused exclusively on environmental law, particularly litigation at the federal district court and appellate court levels.
The moot court institute will also provide current HLS students with new opportunities to help prepare, observe and provide feedback to expert practitioners as they practice their arguments.
In addition to learning more about complex environmental cases and litigation strategy, the moot court also will give students the chance to connect with a broad network of legal practitioners.
“It’s imperative to provide an opportunity to moot cases early in the process, to be sure they are on the strongest possible footing as they make their way through the courts,” Freeman said. “We think we will be providing a real service for the litigants who argue important environmental, energy and climate cases.”
The gift will also underwrite a fund for student field work and support important gatherings to bring stakeholders together to work on the most challenging climate, energy and environmental problems. It will also facilitate deeper connections between the center and other schools and institutions across Harvard University, including Harvard Business and Kennedy Schools and the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. The support comes from HLS alumnus Dan Emmett ’64, chairman of Douglas Emmett, a real estate investment trust.
