Land Use Institute LLM Fellowship

The mission of Vermont Law School’s Land Use Institute is to support and encourage sound land use decision-making aimed at maintaining and creating environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable human relationships with the landscape, primarily, though not exclusively, in non-urban areas. These relationships must support society’s ability to meet fundamental human needs—clean air and water, food, housing, energy, and a physical and political infrastructure designed to meet those needs fairly and efficiently.

The Land Use Institute, founded in 2005, is part of the Law School’s Environmental Law Center. The LUI works with VLS faculty and students, and other nonprofit legal and professional planning partners, to provide sound and innovative information, experience, and education to advance the practice of land use law and planning. This mission is served through direct support for state, local and regional planning agencies, forums and conferences for policy development, preparation of legislation affecting critical land use issues, education and training for state and local land use planners and regulators, practical and scholarly publications, and graduate professional teaching.

Current Institute projects include:

• the preparation of fact sheets and a pamphlet on flood plain issues for use by Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission in working with local officials;
• the presentation of a conference for local planners and housing officials on land use issues regarding affordable housing in conjunction with the Upper Valley Housing Coalition;
• the development of legislation for Vermont to require coordination of energy and land use planning standards in approval of major energy and development projects in conjunction with the VLS Institute for Energy and the Environment;
• the preparation for Smart Growth Vermont of legal materials to be included in a web-based land use “toolbox” for use by citizens and local planners in Vermont; the presentation of a conference for developers, lenders, planners and regulators on brownfields development in Vermont in conjunction with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources;
• an assessment of training needs of local land trusts, in conjunction with the Land Trust Alliance and the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Natural Resources.

The director and founder, L. Kinvin Wroth, has been a professor of law at Vermont Law School since 1996, and served as Dean from 1996 to 2004. Previously, he had served as Dean of the University of Maine's law school from 1978 to 1990 and was on the Maine faculty from 1964 until coming to Vermont. Professor Wroth is an expert in the areas of procedure, professional conduct, and legal history. At Vermont Law School, he has taught Comparative Law, The Canadian Legal System, Race and the Law, Civil Procedure, and Land Use Regulation. The associate director, Peg Elmer, has served as a professional planner and environmental advocate in Vermont for 30 years, most recently as Planning Director for a decade at the state Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

For more information about the Land Use Institute, please visit the LUI homepage.

LLM in Environmental Law

The LLM in Environmental Law degree is designed for a select group of post-JD candidates seeking to specialize in the practice of environmental law, or pursue careers in teaching, research, or public policy. Candidates include recent law school graduates and practicing lawyers who wish to develop an environmental law specialty. The cornerstone of the LLM program is the Graduate Seminar. A minimum of 30 academic credits are required to complete the program. For the LUI fellow, this thirty credit program is spread over two years. Vermont Law School’s environmental law curriculum includes more than fifty courses in environmental law, policy, science, and ethics. For more information about the LLM in Environmental Law degree program, please visit the LLM degree page.

Fellowship Qualifications

Qualifications for the Land Use Institute LLM Fellowship include:

• admission to the LLM in Environmental Law degree program;
• a demonstrated commitment to land use planning and law;
• prior practice or other experience in land use planning and law;
• strong legal writing and communications skills.

Preference will be given to members of the Vermont Bar, or individuals who are seeking to be admitted in Vermont. AICP certification is desirable.