Course Description and Welcome

274.12 sec. 1 - Workshop on Development & the Environment

Instructor: Robert Infelise

The intersection of environmental and land use law, on one hand, and the real world of real estate development, on the other, is filled with complexities and trade-offs. The answers to many legal questions raised by some development projects are not easily discerned from the law. Furthermore, large-scale development projects almost always have measurable negative impacts on the environment, while at the same time often improving the lives of some people. As a result, the social and economic utility of projects is often difficult to determine. Lawyers inevitably find themselves in the middle of these conflicts.

In past years, the Workshop students have focused on a major public works project. Last year the Workshop students focused on the environmental issues surrounding the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. The focus of the spring Workshop will be announced at a later date.

Each week the class will be visited by a person involved in or knowledgeable about some facet of the project. The students will interview the guest. In a separate forty-minute session each week, the class will discuss the information gleaned from the interviews and from outside research. The final project will consist of the preparation of a single “White Paper” on the project, which will be made available to the media and to policymakers.

Instructions:
Once each week, please post a summary of your reading, including Bluebook citations. These postings will serve as resources for your classmates as you begin to research and write the "White Papers."