view . summer 2011
9
A LEGAL
PRECEDENT
Windsor Law partners with Wayne State for North America’s
first transnational environmental law clinic
University of Windsor Law School and the Wayne State
University Law School have forged a unique partnership that
will provide students with opportunities to gain practical
legal experience in transboundary environmental law and
Great Lakes regional issues.
The law schools share a border on the Detroit River, the
busiest international crossing between the United States and
Canada. Working together in the Great Lakes Environmental
Law Center, students will serve their communities and
beyond by taking on a wide variety of regional and bilateral
environmental legal issues such as Great Lakes water quality
and quantity, invasive species, air quality, renewable energy
and environmental justice.
“We are thrilled to partner with Windsor Law on the first
U.S.-Canada environmental law clinic of its kind,” said Nick
Schroeck, director of the Wayne Law Environmental Law
Clinic and the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center.
“Wayne Law’s already established Environmental Law Clinic,
which works closely with the Great Lakes Environmental Law
Center, provides an ideal base from which we will expand
course offerings for our students on an international scale.”
The first steps to this partnership are underway, with
formal approval of a Windsor Law course expected by fall
2011. According to Windsor Law professor Marcia Valiante,
who helped spearhead the collaboration with Schroeck and
Wayne Law professor Noah Hall, two Windsor Law students
under her direct supervision will get course credit for their
work this semester with Wayne Law’s environmental clinic.
“We are excited about the many possibilities for
collaboration that lie ahead for our future law students
interested in international environmental law,” Valiante said.
“Our students will be able to learn about another nation’s
legal system and take an active role in affecting
environmental policy. The countries face environmental
challenges that we hope to address in a cooperative way
for the benefit of citizens on both sides of the border.”
Wayne Law dean Robert Ackerman and Windsor Law
Dean Bruce Elman, whose term ended June 30, 2011, have
collaborated on past projects such as the 2009 Boundary
Waters Treaty Centennial Symposium.
“One of the main themes of Windsor Law is transnational
law,” said Elman. “We have undertaken many initiatives in
furtherance of this theme. The Transnational Environmental
Law Clinic is the latest step in our commitment to offer our
students meaningful opportunities for the study of transnational
law. The clinic also demonstrates our commitment to our
theme of ‘Access to Justice’ and to experiential learning.”
Ackerman said growth in his school’s environmental law
and international law programs positioned it as a leader: “We
are thrilled to partner with Windsor Law to provide additional
opportunities for our students and our communities to learn
from one another and make a difference through the law.”
Students are already showing a great deal of interest.
“I am excited by the opportunity to learn with our
neighbors working out of Wayne State University and
contribute to the ever-expanding and always important
environmental protection movement,” said Windsor Law
student Cameron Hoos.
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BY DAYO KEFENTSE
