The law school may be welcoming a new environmental law journal in the near future. While nothing has been finalized, Dean Paddock is working diligently to provide GW Law students with another opportunity to participate in a law journal. Dean Paddock joined the faculty a year and half ago and part of the reasoning behind creating his position as Associate Dean for Environmental Law was to emphasize building programs in the environmental area for JD students. Dean Paddock explained the current posture of the proposed journal and what must be completed in order to progress through the preliminary stages of development.

Students (especially the SBA and Environmental Law Association) have demonstrated great interest regarding this possible addition, as have Dean Lawrence and Professor Schooner. There are, however, a few stages to this process. In order to establish a new journal, GW needs a partner and although a party is interested, nothing has been formally agreed to. Also, the new journal must have some circulation outside that of a normal journal and we must show its long-term viability. These were the main aspects looked into when Dean Paddock and the others involved were drafting their proposal.

Currently, the proposal is under review by the energy faculty and they are looking into the marketing strategy of the journal. Once the feedback from the energy faculty is assessed, the proposal must receive approval from the curriculum committee. Then, the final step is for the faculty to vote in favor of the journal. Dean Paddock noted that the focus of the journal would be energy and climate related and article subject matters would include next generation energy issues like alternative sources of energy, energy in climate legislation, critical issues in the Clean Air Act that have not yet been resolved, carbon sequestration and liability, and other newer issues pertaining to these important topics.

There are some concerns that accompany this potential new addition. Particularly, there is uncertainty as to whether enough student interest exists to sustain another journal, as GW Law is home to six other journals currently. The new prospect should not water down the quality of the journal work already done at GW, although, as Dean Paddock explained, "there are a great number of environmentally-focused students" at the law school. The school wants to ensure that it has found an appropriate niche - we would hate for the publication to be one of many. The environmental law journal needs strong authors as well as substantial readership in order to be successful.

In addition to these concerns, however, are also many potential advantages. Few journals focus in this area, and its success would improve the reputation of GW in the professional community. It would also provide students with additional opportunities to gain law journal experience, which is valuable in itself as well as when applying for positions, as any expertise in this area would be impressive on a resumé. Also, the GW community has many masters students who write theses regarding the environment, and the journal would provide an outlet for the high quality papers.

SBA President Brett Sheats has submitted a letter to the GW Law Curriculum Committee on behalf of the law school students expressing support and offering reasons as to why the additional journal would be of great benefit to our community. In this letter, Brett stated that, "[t]he student body is deeply committed to journal writing opportunities and continues to produce written work of the highest standard. Accordingly, the opportunity to contribute to this new journal enjoys the utmost support of the GW Law School student body."

Inaugural membership selection is going to be a bit different than that of the current journals. If the journal is granted faculty approval by the end of February or early March, then the hope would be for 1L students to participate in the normal law review selection process. There is a little more discretion regarding choosing managing students and one option is to select students in consultation with the Environmental Law Association, but nothing has been decided. For the first year, the goal is to implement the proper structures so selecting among interested students to comprise the first group of student managers has its benefits.

Dean Paddock emphasized that he would prefer to have the journal approved and in place by the time of the 1L journal competition, but it is difficult to say whether that hope will become reality. There are still approvals the journal must attain and there is much work that needs to be done.

Questions or comments about the proposed Environmental Law Journal should be directed to Dean Paddock.