Free Law Seminar For Legal-Eagle Activists

One key tool every good activist Landfill’s toxic past concerns residents needs to use: the law. If you don’t know how to use it, here’s an opportunity to learn from the pros.

“Coastal Protection, Land Trusts & Conservancies, Urban Oil” is a free seminar from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 17 that provides a legal toolbox for environmental activ-ists. This is the fifth in a series of legal workshops presented by Sierra Club and the Loyola Law School Environmental Law Society.

The workshop is designed to provide non-lawyers with legal tools to use in their conservation campaigns. “Environmental laws are extremely complex and difficult even for attorneys to understand, let alone master,” says Dean Wallraff, vice chair of the Chapter’s Legal Committee. The session promises to be full of information and topics that are geared toward the lay person.

Topics and presenters include:

• California Coastal Act (Jamee Patterson, California Department of Justice)
• Coastal Law War Stories (environmental attorney Mark Massara)
• Private Coastal Act Enforcement (lawyer Victor Otten)
• Land Trusts & Conservancies (lawyer Dean Wallraff)
• Strategies for Opposing Development on Urban Oil Sites (NRDC attorney Damon Nagami)
• Oil Pollution Act (lawyer Stefan Blasig).

Lawyers and speakers who present will incorporate case studies into the lectures to show how the law applies to real-world situations activists are likely to encounter. The workshop takes place at Loyola Law School’s Robinson Courtroom (919 Albany St., L.A.). It’s free ($3 for parking) but RSVPs are recommended. Contact: Dean Wallraff, dw@aenv.org, (818) 679-3141.