The Role of Lawyers in Resolving Environmental Interest Disputes

Abstract

This article explores the role of lawyers and the tools they can use in the resolution of environmental interest disputes. We draw on the decades-long work of ADR professionals in this area as well as the professional experience of attorneys and the skills they have honed in the context of "rights based" and "rights to process" disputes. By "environmental interest disputes" we include both emerging conflicts and current disputes among multiple parties over the use and abuse of land, air, water, surface, and subsurface resources whose resolution is unlikely to occur in traditional adjudicatory tribunals such as courts and administrative agencies.