About the Land Use Clinic

About the Clinic

The Land Use Clinic provides innovative legal tools and strategies to help preserve land, water and scenic beauty while promoting creation of communities responsive to human and environmental needs. The clinic provides tools and research assistance to help local governments, state agencies, and non-profit organizations develop quality land use and growth management policies and practices. The clinic also gives UGA law students an opportunity to develop practical skills and provides them with knowledge of land use law and policy.

Work of the Clinic

The Land Use Clinic promotes the use of growth management tools in Georgia, drafting model legislation to protect greenspace, control stormwater and other water pollution, cluster development away from sensitive resources, promote affordable housing and preserve farmland and open space. The Clinic also broadens the University’s offerings in land use law, helping us attract students interested in the developing field of growth management, and assuring they graduate with invaluable practical experience in the field.

The clinic also develops and diversifies existing opportunities within the Law School’s Civil Clinic program. It provides a formal opportunity for clinical work in transactional and administrative law, with a heavy stress on legal and public policy issues. It is a beneficial experience for any law student interested in land use, real estate, local government, environmental or commercial law, or in community leadership on state or local land use issues.

Course Overview

Students work in the clinic office an average of 10-15 hours per week during a semester. The students’ learning is directly supervised by the managing attorney. Students engage in at least one substantial piece of research and writing as a class paper. These projects include written analysis, policy papers, educational materials, or operative legal documents. Students also engage in traditional clinical reflection; they submit periodic journals of their experience and have two formal personal interviews with the managing attorney.

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Land Use Clinic University of Georgia School of Law Athens, Georgia 30606 (706) 542-8043