Pro Bono Projects – Environmental Law Society

Join Our Pro Bono Team!

The ELS Pro Bono Project is an opportunity for current UW Law students to gain hands-on experience volunteering with environmental organizations in Washington. The pro bono projects offers students the chance to work on a team of fellow law students and make connections with lawyers and professionals in the environmental field. Past project partners have included:

Wild Fish Conservancy

To develop a clearer picture of environmental action related to hatchery operations Wild Fish Conservancy is seeking help with a thorough review of state and federal hatchery programs in Washington and Oregon. Students may:

Identify permits required for hatcheries to comply with the ESA, and identify hatcheries where these permits are absent.
Conduct research on hatchery-relevant case law and secondary sources.
Assist in drafting a complaint and submitting to the appropriate entity.

Animal & Earth Advocates

Animal & Earth Advocates is a Seattle-based firm specializing in environmental and animal law. The firm focuses exclusively on litigation and other legal projects on behalf of fish and wildlife and wildlands.

The firm has sued the USFS in federal district court over excessive cattle grazing in the Colville National Forest, leading to long-term damage to the forest ecosystem and threatening species such as gray wolves and endangered bull trout. Students will review documents to find information for use in the lawsuit and research legal questions under the Endangered Species Act, National Forest Management Act, and National Environmental Policy Act. (A&EA also has recommendations for topics that would be good fodder for law review articles related to this lawsuit!)

The Environmental Law Society at the University of Washington (“ELS”) is an intersectional environmental advocacy organization committed to providing a forum for members of the University of Washington School of Law community to discuss important local, national, and global environmental issues through a legal lens.

We (and now you!) are striving to create a space for individuals to engage with environmental challenges, think critically about legal and public policy solutions, prepare for careers in the environmental legal field, and build community around the common cause of planetary stewardship.

ELS acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples’ original ownership of the land on which the University of Washington sits, the traditional territory of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, Duwamish, and Muckleshoot nations. ELS further acknowledges the state’s continuing obligation to fulfill promises made in the Treaty of Point Elliott.

https://native-land.ca/