South Carolina’s popularity as a retirement haven and other favorable quality of life factors are making it a destination of choice for large numbers of people whose growing presence underscores concerns about protecting the natural resources that help make the state attractive to newcomers in the first place.

“We have to pay attention to how we are developing our land and we need people to help protect the environment,” said Kim Diana Connolly, an assistant professor at the USC School of Law, commenting on the impetus for creation of a new dual degree program in environmental law between USC and the Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vt.

The program, which will see the graduation of its first students in May 2004, represents a unique opportunity for aspiring attorneys interested in protecting the environment to become acquainted with a complex specialty area of the law that has come into its own over the last two decades.

“People who want to enter environmental practice have a leg up when they have an understanding of the depth and breadth of this area of the law,” said Connolly, the dual degree program’s director, adding that today’s environmental law “touches every aspect of our lives.”

That realization helped spur creation of the program about four years ago when USC Law School associate professor Stephen A. Spitz audited a class at the Vermont Law School and brought the idea of a joint degree program back to Columbia.

The concept was embraced by the school’s dean of technology Steven D. Hinckley, and associate dean for academic affairs and professor Philip T. Lacy, according to Connolly, who worked as an environmental attorney in Washington, D.C., before coming to USC.

Students enrolled in the dual degree program take their first full year of courses at the USC Law School in Columbia, then after their spring semester exams, enroll in an intensive course introducing them to environmental law and policy. The rest of the summer they spend in South Royalton, Vt., where they study environmental law under some of the top leaders in the field. The Vermont Law School’s faculty expertise has helped make it the number one-rated rated program of its kind in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

Back in Columbia in the fall of their second year of law school, students take additional environmental law courses that include distant learning classes beamed by satellite from classrooms in South Royalton. That mix of courses continues into the third and final year of law school along with environmental internships and additional summer courses on location in Vermont, which are optional.

The first six students in the program will graduate in May with their law degree from USC and a master’s degree in environmental law from the Vermont Law School, “an invaluable combination for someone who wants to practice environmental law in South Carolina or the region,” Connolly said.

In addition to the joint degree program, the USC School of Law also is the host of the Southeastern Environmental Law Journal, offers its own environmental law courses, sponsors environmental guest lecturers, and has an environmental law clinic that puts third- year law students into a practice experience. Last year, for example, students working in the clinic wrote an ordinance for one of the state’s poorest counties to deal with its solid waste.

The law school also offers a dual degree program with the USC School of the Environment in which participants can receive a law degree and a master’s degree in earth and environmental resource management. This program is seen as being more appropriate for students interested in blending law with management or science aspects of the environment, and requires students to take a certain number of management and science courses to prepare them for the technical issues that are presented in the practice of environmental law.

One USC law student is enrolled in both dual programs of the Vermont Law School and the School of the Environment.

Growth in the enrollment of students in the dual degree program with the Vermont Law School over the last three years indicates that the word is getting out about it and that it will continue to grow, said Vic Pyle, who will graduate in May with dual degrees.

Pyle refers to the program as a “hidden jewel,” the best part of which is being able to go to law school in Columbia while at the same time “being able to take advantage of the best environmental law program in the country.”

“It’s been a fantastic experience,” said Pyle, noting that one of the program’s chief attributes is its flexibility that allows students to finish it in three years. “I’m extremely happy with the program overall and am really impressed with both the level of talent in the faculty here at USC, as well as at Vermont. It’s a resource that not a lot of people know about yet, but will as word gets out.”

Connolly believes the program’s growing reputation bodes well for the entire state.

“This is a program that is going to produce lawyers who are able to roll up their sleeves and do solid environmental law work based on a sound educational experience in the specialty’s requirements, underlying policies, and future directions. Over the long term, it’s going to be of tremendous benefit to the state’s citizens, its public health, and South Carolina’s environment.”

11/03