ASL's First January Intersession: Course Offerings

Appalachian School of Law 

Offers Two Courses 

Over the Winter Holiday Break 

January Intersession

Introduction to Natural Resources Law

ASL will offer this 2-credit hour course on its campus the week prior to the resumption of January classes (January 6-10, 2014). This intensive course will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 9:00 a.m. to noon on Friday. 

The course will familiarize students with the legal, business, and environmental aspects of the natural resources law. Although broadly covering natural resources, the course will include a basic introduction to the U.S. legal and governmental system relating to environmental, natural resource, and energy laws, including hard mineral law, oil and gas law, water law, environmental law, energy policy, land use law, renewable energy law, and issues related to climate change and sustainability. 

Four faculty members will co-teach the course. More specifically, they have designed the course to commit one-day to each of the following topics: energy law and policy, mineral law, natural resources law, and environmental law. And, the co-faculty will all attend the panel discussion scheduled for the final day.

Professor Pat Baker, one of the co-faculty members for this course and the Director of the Natural Resources Law Center, explained:  

The Natural Resources Law Program proudly continues to innovate and offer specialized classes that provide our students with real world exposure to today’s energy issues, problems, and solutions. This course is just another step in our commitment to creating the policy makers and lawyers of tomorrow.

Lawyerpreneur

ASL will also offer this 2-credit hour course on its campus the week prior to the resumption of January classes (January 6-10, 2014). This intensive course will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 9:00 a.m. to noon on Friday. 

The Lawyerpreneur course helps bridge the gap between academic study and a career in the legal field by having students work on legal problems that lawyers and professionals in law-related fields are asked to solve. 

Students will work individually and collaboratively in teams, acting similarly to junior associates at a law firm.  They will identify client goals and develop sound ideas and work product that address those goals. 

Just like in the real world, the instructor, who has significant private practice experience, will expect students to complete tasks within time-intensive constraints.  The professor, student peers, possibly guest evaluators and clients will assess students.  Students will also engage in self-assessment.

Students will use legal research, writing, analysis, and oral communication skills, combined with practical judgment and ethical/moral considerations to help clients resolve problems in creative, innovative, and legally sound ways. Students will also develop an appreciation for the skill-set needed to be an effective advocate and will learn how to think like a lawyer, a business person, and an entrepreneur. Students should expect to bounce between tasks of varying complexity within very short windows of time.

To Register:

To register for any of the courses, please complete this registration form and/or contact our Admissions Office at admissions@asl.edu or at 1-800-895-7411. 

Current ASL JD and Master's (MLS) students should not use this registration form. Instead, please contact the Registrar, Eric von Kleist at ekleist@asl.edu,  for registration and pricing information.