Richard J. Lippes ’69
Tom Tyler
Adam Walters
In spring 2012, SUNY Buffalo Law School will implement a unique approach to teaching about Environmental Law-Pollution Control as well as provide students with access to multiple experts and practical outlooks. Environmental Law Program Director Kim Diana Connolly has announced that three experts in the field, Richard J. Lippes ’69 of Richard J. Lippes & Associates, Tom Tyler of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, in Washington, DC, and Adam Walters of Phillips Lytle LLP will bring their extensive environmental law experience to the classroom.
The three adjuncts will each lead a three-week “unit” of the class, covering such topics as the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Clean Air Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. Professor Connolly will be the lead instructor, teaching a unit herself and working with each of the adjuncts to prepare their units and assessments and coordinating every class.
The instructors will use their extensive practice experience to go beyond the typical class, exploring why each statute was written, how it has been implemented by the agencies, how it has been interpreted by courts, and how it works in actual practice. Students will learn about broader areas of authority under which agencies act (beyond just regulations and enforcement) and how the realities of clients and other stakeholders influence the application of laws. Students will do simulations and other practical exercises, and will be assessed at the end of each unit rather than through a final exam. Under Professor Connolly’s guidance, the students will also select a topic and write a brief white paper that will be posted on the Law School’s website.
