Natural Resources & Environmental Law
Opportunities Outside the Classroom
Externships
The following is a sampling of firms and agencies that are likely to accept a student extern. Please contact a member of the Natural Resources Committee if you are interested in discussing these or other externship possibilities. If you are interested in pursuing a particular externship, please contact Roberta Remington in the law clinic.
New Mexico
- Advocates for the West (Albuquerque)
- Defenders of Wildlife (Albuquerque)
- Domenici Law Firm, P.C. (Albuquerque)
- Institute of Public Law Center for Wildlife Law (Albuquerque)
- Interstate Stream Commission (Albuquerque)
- Law and Resource Planning Associates (Albuquerque)
- National Resources Defense Council (Albuquerque)
- Nature Conservancy (Albuquerque)
- U.S. Dept Agriculture (Forest Service) (Albuquerque)
- U.S. Regional Solicitor’s Office (Albuquerque)
- Utton Transboundary Resources Center (Albuquerque)
- Legal Aid of New Mexico (acequia issues)(Santa Fe)
- New Mexico Environment Department (Santa Fe)
- New Mexico Environmental Law Center (Santa Fe)
- Office of the State Engineer (Santa Fe)
- Public Regulation Commission (Santa Fe)
- Wilderness Guardians (Santa Fe)
- Western Environmental Law Center (Taos)
Out of State
- U.S. Department of Justice (Washington, D.C.)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Washington, D.C.)
- Western Resource Advocates (Boulder)
- Advocates for the West (Boise office)
- Trout Unlimited Western Water Project (CO,UT,WY,MT)
- National Wildlife Federation (Boulder)
UNM Law Clinic
On occasion, the UNM law clinic works with community groups and community partners on land use issues and environmental matters. For example, last year the clinic worked with the Pajarito Mesa Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association to obtain a water supply system for their community and is currently working with the New Mexico Water Lawyers’ Association, a nonprofit organization.
Environmental Law Moot Court
The Pace Environmental Law Moot Court Competition is the preeminent environmental law moot in the United States, attracting competitors representing more than 70 national and Canadian law schools. Participants write and debate about an environmental topic that involves issues drawn from real cases. The competition is unique in that three teams argue the issues, reflecting the fact that environmental litigation frequently involves multiple parties — the government, a public interest group and a member of the regulated community. Teams write and file their briefs for their respective parties in early December and travel to Pace in White Plains, NY in February for the oral phase of the competition.
Environmental Law Society
The Mission
- Promote awareness of environmental, natural and cultural resource issues and their legal, political and socio-economic implications.
- Facilitate environmental, natural and cultural resource activism through example, education and community involvement.
- Encourage communication and collaboration between the conservation, social justice and political/legal communities.
- Enhance the law school experience for students interested in environmental, natural, and cultural resource issues confronting New Mexico and our world.
American Bar Association Summer Diversity Fellowship in Environmental Law
For the past three years the American Bar Association, the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association have provided funds for eligible students to intern with nonprofit organizations representing traditionally underserved groups, nonprofit environmental organizations and local, state and federal governmental organizations with environmental responsibilities.
The program is open to students from underrepresented or underserved groups who have completed their first or second year of law school and are in good academic standing. In the past, the New Mexico Environment Department, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and New Mexico Legal Aid have provided placements in New Mexico for these fellows. The students each received a $5,000 stipend (two students each summer). The program is open to all ABA accredited schools. Please see Professor Eileen Gauna for more information.
