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Environmental Law Clinic wins award
//June 19, 2012
It’s awards time for the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
The clinic will receive the 2012 Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy from the American Bar Association.
The award is given out every year for leadership in environmental protection.
The clinic was created in 1987 and provides free legal services for environmental protection of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Students participate in the clinic over two semesters.
The clinic has been involved in a lawsuit against Perdue farms and a Maryland poultry producer over the past couple years. Students and faculty in the clinic represent an environmental nonprofit called Waterkeepers Alliance in the lawsuit, which claims Perdue and the poultry producer violated the Clean Water Act by polluting the Chesapeake Bay. The clinic has been representing the group since 2010 and the case is supposed to go to court in October this year.
There has been controversy surrounding the lawsuit, with Gov. Martin O’Malley protesting the school’s involvement to Dean Phoebe Haddon. Eastern Shore lawmakers upset by the lawsuit also pushed for a provision in budget bills that would require law school clinics to disclose the names of their clients over the past five years.
SaveFarmFamilies.org also issued a statement Tuesday condemning the decision by the ABA to award the law clinic. The group assists farm families who have environmental lawsuits brought against them.
The clinic’s director, Professor Jane F. Barrett, will accept the award for the group at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in Chicago in August.
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