Environmental Law Section

The Environmental Law Section serves the Bar Association and the greater Cleveland community in the area of environmental law. We host two seminars each year: a day-long seminar in the fall and a half-day seminar in the late winter or early spring. We hold luncheon meetings every other month, most of which include a speaker on a topic of interest to environmental practitioners, usually approved for 1.0 hour of CLE credit. In all of our events we reach out not only to attorneys but also to environmental consultants, to government personnel, and to our clients and potential clients.

Join the Section for their "Sweets in Spring" Fundraiser on April 9.  Proceeds benefit the Section's Internship Fund for eligible law students.  Click here for details.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the sponsors for this year's "Sweets in Spring" Fundraiser:

• BakerHostetler LLP 
• Hemisphere 
• GT Environmental 
• Burgess & Niple 
• HzW Environmental Consultants LLC 
• Partners Environmental 
• Sage Environmental Consultants, Inc. 
• Haley & Aldrich, Inc. 
• Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP 
• McMahon DeGulis LLP 
• Roetzel & Andress, LPA 

Perhaps most important, though, we host an annual fundraiser that allows the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation to support law students working in unpaid summer internships for a government agency involved in environmental issues. So far, we have helped students who worked with the City of Cleveland Health Department and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.  Please click here for more details on the Internship Program and how attorneys and firms can support our efforts.

Since 1994, members and friends of the Environmental Section of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (Section) have provided assistance to law school students working in the public or non-profit sectors in unpaid summer jobs. Well before the current downturn in the economy, many desirable summer jobs in environmental law with government agencies or environmental organizations required a student to work without pay.

The Environmental Section, through the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation (Foundation), has raised money to provide support for law students who are either from the Cleveland area or are attending Cleveland-area law schools so that they can take these unpaid summer jobs. With fewer and fewer paid summer job opportunities due to the recession, such support becomes a critical piece in a law student’s resume, provides networking opportunities in the student’s field of interest and gives the law student the type of real world experience that impresses future full-time employers.

In the summer of 2011, the Foundation awarded $3,000 each to two students. The Section hopes that its members will continue their support of this effort by making individual and law firm contributions and by participating in fundraising events throughout the year. 

Recently, the CMBA joined with the Akron Bar Association to host fundraising events in February 2011 and February 2012.  The "Love, Law & Chocolate" fundraisers have not only brought together the Cleveland and Akron legal communities for networking and collegiality, but raised the profile of the Internship Fund and increased revenues.  The Section planned their "Sweets in Spring" fundraising event for April 9, 2013.

We look forward to your active involvement in this worthwhile endeavor.

• For more information on donating to the Internship Fund or the Sweets in Spring event, please click here.  
• To suggest an internship opportunity, please contact Maureen Brennan, Internship Committee Chair. 
• For the 2013 Environmental Internship application form, please click here.   
• For information on Northeast Ohio internships, please visit the internship pages at Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education and the Ohio Board of Regents. (click names to link)

Previous interns include: 

Meagan DeJohn - 2004
Elise Rindfleisch - 2006
Keira Lally
Scott Zaret
Christine Lederer - 2010
Christy Rideout - 2010
Michelle Reese - 2011
David Emerman - 2011
Andrew Harvey - 2012

If you are aware of any recipient not listed above, please contact the CMBA at 216-696-3525 or click here to email. 

The Environmental Law Section gratefully acknowledges the efforts of our past chairs, who have devoted countless hours to ensuring the success of our Section.

• Michael D. Goler - 1991-1994
• Michael S. McMahon - 1995-1996
• Maureen A. Brennan - 1997-1998
• David E. Nash - 1999-2000
• Robert B. Casarona - 2001
• Gregory DeGulis - 2002
• John E. Sullivan - 2003
• Daniel R. Loreta - 2004
• Debora Sewell Lasch - 2005
• Julianne Kurdila - 2006
• Michael A. Cyphert - 2007
• Suzanne M. Fisher - 2008
• Jason P. Perdion - 2009
• Leslie G. Wolfe - 2010
• Meagan L. Moore - 2011
• Emily Huggins Jones - 2012
• Devin A. Barry - 2013