Plunkett Cooney senior environmental attorney and noted “green” blogger Saulius K. Mikalonis has partnered with Thomas M. Cooley Law School to create the school’s first ever class on sustainability issues.
“It’s an exciting challenge to teach a brand new course on such a rapidly changing subject,” said Mikalonis, who is the author of MLive.com’s The Green Blawg. “I’m passionate about environmental law and sustainability issues, and I look forward to introducing the Cooley Law students to this new course.”
During the 15-week winter semester, Mikalonis will teach the two-hour course called “Sustainable Development Law and Policy,” which is an approved elective for the environmental law track of Cooley’s Public Law Concentration. The course will introduce students to sustainability concepts and the legal, regulatory and corporate governance standards that now require or pressure businesses to implement sustainability practices, including programs for tracking related metrics and incentives for launching so-called “green” initiatives.
The syllabus, which Mikalonis developed from scratch because there is no textbook on the subject, includes such topics as environmentalism, an introduction to sustainability and related legal issues/incentives, green buildings, sustainable land use, Brownfield redevelopment and alternative energy technologies, among others.
As a member of the Plunkett Cooney’s Energy Industry and Corporate/Transactional practice groups, Mikalonis practices primarily in the areas of environmental, natural resources and energy law with particular emphasis on greenhouse gases, renewable energy and green building/LEED.
Mikalonis represents clients in commercial and real estate transactions involving the development of environmentally sensitive and Brownfield sites and due diligence in complex transactions, including the identification, allocation and reduction of environmental risks.
A member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Mikalonis has published extensively on environmental law and green topics and is a frequent speaker on these topics for professional and business organizations. He received his law degree from the University of Oregon Law School in 1986 and his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1980.
Admitted to practice in Michigan, the District of Columbia and Michigan federal courts, Mikalonis is a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Environmental Law Section, the District of Columbia Bar Association and the American Bar Association’s Section on Environment, Energy and Resources. He is also a member of the board of directors for the Detroit Regional Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney employs more than 150 attorneys in nine Michigan cities, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana. The firm, which provides a range of transactional and litigation defense services, has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms.
For more information about Saulius K. Mikalonis teaching the first ever “Sustainable Development Law and Policy” course at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, contact the firm’s Practice Development Manager John E. Cornwell at (248) 901-4008.
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Source: Plunkett Cooney