Environmental and Energy Law (J.D. Certificate)

Illinois Institute of Technology

Environmental and energy issues permeate more and more areas of law amidst a profound transformation over the past 50 years in attitudes regarding the planet and its life support systems. Increasingly, air, soil, and water resources drive economic and public health issues, while public and private sectors focusing more attention on planning for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy.

Chicago-Kent College of Law has been in the forefront of training legal professionals to deal with these critical, rapidly emerging issues. The J.D. Certificate in Environmental and Energy Law provides not only a firm grounding in the core legal principles of environmental law, but also an understanding of the underlying scientific, economic, and ethical concepts that inform environmental and energy policy.

This theoretical foundation is supplemented by practical application opportunities through externships or through supervised involvement in one of the nation's finest urban environmental justice clinics.

Program Overview

The J.D. Certificate in Environmental and Energy Law provides a firm grounding in the core legal principles of environmental law as well as an understanding of the underlying scientific, economic, and ethical concepts that inform environmental and energy policy.

Career Opportunities

The Environmental and Energy Law Program prepares students to join law firms that represent business entities subject to environmental and energy regulations, public interest groups that lobby for preventive and protective measures, public regulatory and enforcement agencies, corporations whose in-house counsel ensures operational compliance with regulations, and a host of related pursuits.

Possible jobs include:

Environmental law attorney

Land use and zoning attorney

Public interest attorney

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency attorney

U.S. Justice Department attorney

U.S. Department of the Interior attorney