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The article focuses on the evolving duty of competence for lawyers in the context of climate change. It discusses how the duty of competence, as articulated in Model Rule 1.1 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, is expanding to include staying abreast of current and evolving laws and knowledge concerning climate change. It discusses the concept of competence across professions, the importance of systems leadership skills, and principles for climate-competent lawyering.

As part of the modern environmental movement of the 1970s, five states (Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, and Pennsylvania) adopted constitutional amendments recognizing a right to a quality environment, a public trust for public natural resources, or both. Half a century later, there is a renewed interest in constitutional environmental rights, inspired in no small part by the failure of existing laws to adequately address the climate crisis. A sixth state (New York) recognized a constitutional right to a quality environment in 2021, and more than a dozen states are considering such amendments. Still, the great majority of environmental protection at the state level is accomplished by statutes and regulations. In that context, what specific value do constitutional provisions add to environmental and natural resources protection? This Article attempts to answer that question for U.S. states, based on judicial decisions in these six states. These provisions can contribute value in at least three ways, depending on how they are written and how courts interpret and apply them. First, constitutional environmental rights and public trusts limit governmental authority to act contrary to their provisions. They can be the basis for invalidating inconsistent statutes, regulations, and other government actions. They can be used in a variety of ways to improve access to the courts, and they have been used to broaden and deepen protection for public natural resources beyond the protection accorded under traditional public trust law. Second, they provide supportive authority for governmental efforts to protect the environment and natural resources. Third, they can provide the basis for legal actions against private parties. Constitutional environmental rights and public trusts are not a silver bullet for all environmental problems. But they can add value to a state's environmental and natural resources protection effort in a rich variety of ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an overview of sustainability efforts in US law schools. It describes two sets of drivers for these efforts--inside and outside the legal profession. Drivers from within the legal profession include the American Bar Association as well as several state and local bar associations; law firms and other law organisations; and current and prospective law students. Drivers from outside the legal profession include clients, universities and colleges, nongovernmental organisations, and government. This article then describes what US law schools are now doing in the areas of curriculum, research, buildings and operations, community outreach and service, student life, and institutional mission, policy and planning. More generally, it suggests that law schools need to play a leading role in the national and global effort to achieve sustainability. (Contains 2 notes.)

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Robinson Township v. Commonwealth (Robinson Township) has lawyers looking at the state's constitutional Environmental Rights Amendment (Amendment)--including its public trust provision--as if it magically appeared in the state constitution on the date of the decision. The Amendment had been so thoroughly buried by judicial decisions that most lawyers had never given the text much thought. This Article describes the origin of the Amendment, the two primary cases decided shortly after it was adopted that effectively buried the Amendment, and the Robinson Township decision. It then surveys the wide range of issues that have arisen in the courts and other adjudicatory bodies in the immediate aftermath of Robinson Township and provides suggestions for how some of them should be resolved. Taken together, these cases provide a glimpse of what constitutionally protected environmental rights, including a constitutional public trust, could mean if the Pennsylvania courts continue to treat the Amendment as constitutional law., I. INTRODUCTION II. LEGAL LANDSCAPE PRIOR TO ROBINSON TOWNSHIP A. Article I, Section 27As Written B. Article I, Section 27 As Applied by Pennsylvania Courts Before Robinson Township III. THE […]

The article states that sustainable development is more beneficial and extensive than its limited understanding as just an environmental concept and the U.S. has constrained its potential by this narrow view. It mentions that sustainable development is a framework that integrates environmental protection and social well-being with economic development, as shown by the history of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).