Happy New Year, ELS Members! ELS welcomes and thanks renewing members and its newest members to the section. For 2025, the annual license renewal will run from February 1, 2025, to April 1, 2025. Next month, we will share more information about renewing your ELS membership. A final reminder to brainstorm and submit your panel and plenary speaker ideas for this year’s Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite® by January 13. The conference is made so much better by all the ideas submitted by… Read more
We hope you enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday with loved ones. We are so very thankful to be part of this great community of environmental lawyers. Next week, we have two exciting programs. First, on Monday, we’ll have a Book Club discussion on Advocate, A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice by Eddie Ahn. Then, on Wednesday, our Chair’s Corner monthly networking program will include a conversation about how the recent election results might affect our profession… Read more
Hello, ELS Members! Last month, we had our first monthly Zoom networking opportunity. It was a great discussion about the Yosemite Conference and other recommendations from our members. We hope you can join us for the next one on November 20. Applications have now closed for the 2025 Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship program. If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to help fund the program, please email us at environmental@calawyers.org. In this month’s edition of the eNews we highlight… Read more
Hello, ELS Members! I am thrilled and honored to start my one-year term as Chair of the Environmental Law Section. I am joined by fellow Officers Peter Ton as Vice Chair, Leuwam Tesfai as Treasurer, and Darcy Brown as Secretary. We look forward to leading our Executive Committee in putting on excellent educational programs and networking events for our current and future members. We cannot wait to hear your ideas and connect with you. With that in mind, we are… Read more
As I complete my term as Executive Committee Chair, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to serve in this leadership role. Thank you to the Environmental Law Section Executive Committee for trusting me to lead the section for the 2023-2024 term. We have had a great year! In March, we held the annual Student Negotiations Competition and had a successful Legislative Day. In April, we held a sold-out Energy Law Conference. With our co-sponsor, California Lawyers Association Foundation,… Read more
It is difficult to believe that it is already August. We are one month away from the Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®. There are so many not-to-miss events scheduled for the conference. One of the inaugural events is Saturday’s plenary session honoring the inaugural Trailblazer Award recipient, Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability. There is still time to register. This month, ELS celebrated its southern California Diversity and Inclusion Fellows. Thank you Natural Resources Defense Counsel for sponsoring the event and thank you… Read more
ELS has released its schedule and registration information for the 33rd Annual Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®! We hope you will join us. If you look at the schedule, you will see some new highlights for this year’s conference in addition to perennial favorites. The Planning Committee even added some extra time for Rick Frank’s Recent Environmental Law Developments in the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals & California Supreme Court. Thank you to Peter Ton, Ton Law P.C.; Verne… Read more
This month ELS is celebrating Native American Heritage Month, also sometimes called American Indian Heritage Month and Alaska Native Heritage Month. During the month of November, we focus on uplifting the history, resilience, languages, and cultures of people indigenous to the Americas. Read more
Fall is one of the most special times of year for ELS. Every year, ELS works tirelessly to plan for the Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®. This year, we experienced record attendance. On October 19, over 800 registrants including lawyers and future lawyers joined together for the SOLD OUT 32nd Annual Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®. The conference brings together lawyers, law students, professors, consultants, engineers, and their families for three days of continuing legal education, outdoor activities, and fun. The Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite® is designed to hold MCLE sessions in the mornings and open the afternoons for attendees to connect with nature. Andy Sawyer, Executive Committee Advisor and State Water Board Assistant Chief Counsel, gathers volunteers from the ELS membership to lead afternoon activities within and around the park. The weather was warm, and the skies were clear, giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. ELS even had fly fishing, mountain biking, and a dog-friendly hike. ELS hopes all participants enjoyed the programming, feel refreshed, and inspired. Read more
The Environmental Law Section is delighted to introduce our 2023 Diversity and Inclusion Fellows. Each of the Section’s Fellows will spend 8 to 10 weeks this summer practicing environmental, energy, land use, and/or natural resources law at a participating government agency of public interest organization, and will receive a $6,500 stipend from the Section and Fellowship sponsors. Please join us in congratulating our outstanding 2023 class of Fellows. Read more