As Cambridge entered the heart of the fall season, and Halloween approached, the Harvard ELS held its fall festival. Students wrapped up the school week on Friday with a creative assortment of pumpkin carvings:

Presidents: Alexa Shasteen ’14 and Meg Holden ’14

Vice President: Jonathan Thrope ’13

Alumni Chair: Genevieve Parshalle ’14

Treasurer: Alec Harris ’14

Communications Chair: Leslie Griffith ’13

Horizon Award Chair: Molly Cohen ’14

As always, please feel free to contact us at els@mail.law.harvard.edu if you want to get involved with ELS or have any suggestions for speakers or activities for the fall semester. We’re looking forward to a great year!

Throughout March and April, the Harvard Environmental Law Society hosted a discussion series focused on specific case studies of major environmental Supreme Court victories. The talks were presented by the attorneys who argued those cases and included academic analyses on general trends in environmental Supreme Court litigation.

A big thanks to our co-sponsors, the Dean of Students office, and the Milbank Fund for allowing us to put on this enlightening and successful series! ELS hopes to continue to bring HLS such high quality environmental speakers in the years to come.

University of Cincinnati College of Law Professor Bradford Mank, an expert on environmental plaintiffs’ standing under Article III of the constitution, presented a lunch-time talk on how the Supreme Court’s standing decisions in environmental law cases have impacted all statutory beneficiaries’ ability to bring grievances before federal courts. With standing such an important issue in environmental law, and unusually accessible to non-experts as well, the talk drew a big crowd!

Boston College Law School’s Zygmunt Plater treated us to a lunch-time analysis of the landmark Endangered Species Act victory, TVA v. Hill. Plater, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, gave a lively presentation about progressive litigants’ need to win both in the Supreme Court and in the court of public opinion to secure lasting change. And he made us all covet his super-stylish vintage “Save the Snail Darter” tee.

Since April 2, 2012 was the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, Massachusetts Appeals Court Justice Jim Milkey recounted his experience as lead advocate in the greatest environmental victory in the Supreme Court. The event focused on the bold and controversial strategy choices that led a coalition of states and environmental groups to seek certiorari on the challenge in the first place.

HLS’s own Professor Richard Lazarus delivered a dinner talk on “Why Environmental Supreme Court Litigation Matters to Progressives.” A new, and already beloved, professor at HLS, Lazarus drew a huge crowd and was a hit with students, faculty, and special guests alike! The informal reception that followed allowed us all time to chat with Professor Lazarus, network with new friends, and enjoy a well-deserved end of the year drink!

ELS members and the larger HLS community shared a day in the sun with music, free organic fruit from ELS, and much talk about our upcoming award presentation to Justice Stevens.

What a treat for the 30 HLS students who were able to participate in a discussion of solar and wind project siting, from beginning to end, with such an experienced lawyer. We hope to have Mr. MacNeil back soon for another ELS event, and are happy to talk to interested 1L and 2L’s about opportunities to become involved in this growing field of environmental law! Email sray@jd12.law.harvard.edu for more information.