WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – The Environmental Law Program of Pace Law School has been awarded the 2005 American Bar Association Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy by the ABA’s Standing Committee on Environmental Law and Section of Environment, Energy and Resources.

Dean Stephen J. Friedman said: “We are honored and very pleased by this important recognition of the leading role that Pace Law School has played in the evolution of Environmental Law and in the education of a generation of lawyers in this critical area. Lawyers have been at the forefront of finding the right balance between private property rights and the public benefits associated with preserving natural resources and protecting the environment. Pace Law School is proud of its contribution to this process."

Dean Friedman will accept the award at a ceremony and reception at the InterContinental Hotel on Sunday, August 7, at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois .

“Pace University School of Law has long been a leader in environmental legal education. The Law School has played a vital role in launching the careers of leading environmental attorneys now working in government, the private sector, and public interest organizations,” said Standing Committee chair R. Kinnan Golemon.

Environmental law has been a central focus for Pace Law School, an institution that has made exceptional contributions to environmental legal education and to the development of environmental law and policy in the following ways:

• Pace Law School has graduated well over 700 environmental law specialists.
• The Law School is home to one of the country’s leading environmental journals, Pace Environmental Law Journal.
• Its LLM and SJD programs provide advanced training to environmental lawyers from throughout the world.
• The National Environmental Moot Court Competition, launched in 1989, has grown from 17 law schools to 70 law schools, becoming the premier national environmental moot court competition.
• The Energy Project, founded in 1987 by former Congressman and Dean Emeritus Richard Ottinger, is a leading U.S. clean energy advocacy organization.
• The Land Use Law Center offers a unique, student-centered program that works with local governments to promote innovative strategies that support more sustainable land use patterns.
• The award-winning Environmental Litigation Clinic, established in 1987 in collaboration with the Hudson Riverkeeper, has achieved dramatic results in its efforts to protect the Hudson River Watershed and other nearby environmental resources.
• The Lloyd K. Garrison Lecture features some of the most innovative thinkers in environmental law and policy, making important contributions to the intellectual foundation for environmental law and policy reform.
• The Center for Environmental Studies is the focal point for the Law School’s international work through its association with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and more recently through work with the United Nations Environment Programme.

Established in 2000 by the ABA Standing Committee on Environmental Law and co-sponsored by the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, this award recognizes individuals, organizations and programs that have distinguished themselves in environmental law and policy, contributing significant leadership in improving the substance, process or understanding of environmental protection.

The ABA Standing Committee on Environmental Law is devoted to examination and analysis of emerging environmental law and policy issues; development of ABA policy positions in environmental law; and facilitation of ABA environmental law programming and policymaking. The mission of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources is to be the premier forum for strategies and information for environmental, energy, and resources lawyers.

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is a New York Law School with a suburban campus in White Plains, N.Y., twenty miles north of New York City. Part of Pace University, the school offers the JD program for full-time and part-time day and evening students. Its postgraduate program includes the LLM and SJD degrees in Environmental Law and an LLM in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated Environmental Law programs and its Clinical Education program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, environmental law, securities arbitration, criminal justice, and disability rights. www.law.pace.edu 

Pace is a comprehensive, independent university with campuses in New York City, Pleasantville and White Plains, N.Y., and a Hudson Valley Center at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y. More than 14,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lubin School of Business, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Education, Lienhard School of Nursing and Pace Law School. www.pace.edu