The University of Montana School of Law

Clark Fork Coalition

Supervising Attorney:  Barbara Hall

Faculty Supervisor:
Professor Michelle Bryan Mudd
406.243.6753
michelle.bryanmudd@umontana.edu

Academic Year Only

Satisfies Environmental/Natural Resource Law Certificate Requirement

Prerequisites: 

• Professional Responsibility (effective for all classes entering Fall 2011 and thereafter)
• Introduction to Environmental Law and Water Law, effective Fall 2012

Areas of law: Water Law; Transactional Law; Environmental Law; Administrative Law

Lawyering skills: Transactional drafting; Due diligence and negotiation; Legislative research and drafting; Policy and legal advocacy; Legal research and writing

Sample Projects:  Draft water lease agreements and prepare water right change applications; Draft legislation and rulemakings; Identify and advance policy priorities at the local, state and federal levels; Research emerging legal issues.

Founded in 1985, the Clark Fork Coalition is dedicated to protecting and restoring the Clark Fork River basin, a 22,000-square-mile area draining western Montana and northern Idaho. Our methods are science-based and results-oriented, with an emphasis on public education through energetic outreach at the community level.  This approach puts people in touch with the Clark Fork River and the cause for a healthy watershed, and it has made the Coalition a trusted and respected voice for the rivers and communities in the basin.  Under the supervision of Legal Director, Barbara Hall, clinical students will gain real-world experience working in a conservation non-profit setting as part of a team to advance overall advocacy strategies for protecting and restoring the Clark Fork watershed.  The clinical experience will primarily be focused around various aspects of Montana water law, with emphasis on the quickly evolving field of streamflow restoration.