Lawyers Swamps And Money

Lawyers, Swamps, and Money is an accessible, engaging guide to the complex set of laws governing America's wetlands. After explaining the importance of these critical natural areas, the book examines the evolution of federal law, principally the Clean Water Act, designed to protect them. Readers will explore topics including the fundamentals of administrative law; the geographic scope and activities covered by the Clean Water Act; the role of entrepreneurial wetland mitigation banking; and private property rights. The book concludes with insightful policy recommendations. A prominent legal scholar, Roy C. Gardner has a rare knack for describing landmark cases and key statutes with uncommon clarity and even humor. Students and professionals will gain the thorough understanding of administrative law needed to navigate wetlands policy-and they may even enjoy it.

Lawyers, Swamps, and Money is an accessible, engaging guide to the complex set of laws governing America's wetlands. After explaining the importance of these critical natural areas, the book examines the evolution of federal law, principally the Clean Water Act, designed to protect them. Readers will first learn the basics of administrative law: how agencies receive and exercise their authority, how they actually make laws, and how stakeholders can influence their behavior through the Executive Branch, Congress, the courts, and the media. These core concepts provide a base of knowledge for successive discussions of: the geographic scope and activities covered by the Clean Water Act the curious relationship between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency the goal of no net loss of wetlands the role of entrepreneurial wetland mitigation banking the tension between wetland mitigation bankers and in-lieu fee mitigation programs wetland regulation and private property rights. The book concludes with insightful policy recommendations to make wetlands law less ambiguous and more effective. A prominent legal scholar and wetlands expert, professor Royal C. Gardner has a rare knack for describing landmark cases and key statutes with uncommon clarity and even humor. Students of environmental law and policy and natural resource professionals will gain the thorough understanding of administrative law needed to navigate wetlands policy-and they may even enjoy it.

In The Money Lawyers Joseph C. Goulden vividly describes how lawyering has become a money-driven business, not just a profession. It explores the lucrative world of class-action litigation, where plaintiff lawyers - "The Class-Action Club" - garner billions of dollars in damages and fees through suits against manufacturers of items such as breast implants, asbestos, and diet pills. Also featured are the new super-lawyer David Boies of IBM/Florida vote fame; the Washington, D.C., lawyer-lobbyist Tom Boggs; and the mess divorce of securities "strike-suit law" William Lerach of San Diego and Melvyn Weiss of New York. Additionally, the dark side of "white-shoe law" is detailed in an account of how a Wall Street firm cast out partners so that survivors could make more money, and the price the firm paid for its blatant disloyalty.

Environmental law has an unquestionable effect on the species, ecosystems, and landscapes that biologists study—and vice-versa, as the research of these biologists frequently informs policy. But because many scientists receive little or no legal training, we know relatively little about the precise ways that laws affect biological systems—and, consequently, about how best to improve these laws and better protect our natural resources. With Environmental Law for Biologists, ecologist and lawyer Tristan Kimbrell bridges this gap in legal knowledge. Complete with a concise introduction to environmental law and an appendix describing the most important federal and international statutes and treaties discussed, the book is divided into four broad parts: laws that focus on individual species, like invasive species policies, the Endangered Species Act, and international treaties such as CITES; laws that focus on land, from federal public lands to agricultural regulations and urban planning; laws that focus on water, such as the Clean Water Act; and laws that focus on air, such as the Clean Air Act and international measures meant to mitigate global climate change. Written for working biologists and students alike, this book will be a catalyst for both more effective policy and enhanced research, offering hope for the manifold frictions between science and the law.

Florida Historical Society Stetson Kennedy Award The activists and victories that made Florida a leader in land preservation Despite Florida’s important place at the beginning of the American conservation movement and its notable successes in the fight against environmental damage, the full story of land conservation in the state has not yet been told. In this comprehensive history, Clay Henderson celebrates the individuals and organizations who made the Sunshine State a leader in state-funded conservation and land preservation.  Starting with early naturalists like William Bartram and John Muir who inspired the movement to create national parks and protect the country’s wilderness, Forces of Nature describes the efforts of familiar heroes like Marjory Stoneman Douglas and May Mann Jennings and introduces lesser-known champions like Frank Chapman, who helped convince Theodore Roosevelt to establish Pelican Island as the first national wildlife refuge in the United States. Henderson details how many of Florida’s activists, artists, philanthropists, and politicians have worked to designate threatened land for use as parks, preserves, and other conservation areas.  Drawing on historical sources, interviews, and his own long career in environmental law, Henderson recounts the many small victories over time that helped Florida create several units of the national park system, nearly thirty national wildlife refuges, and one of the best state park systems in the country. Forces of Nature will motivate readers to join in defending Florida’s natural wonders.

Retired Justice Macklin Fleming argues that in its quest for money, the legal profession has lost sight of its true tasks and responsibilities, with the result that the profession is rife with client dissatisfaction, public distrust, and individual lawyer discontent. Money is now the measure of success, he says, and honesty has been diluted, while fiduciary responsibility has eroded. Fleming elaborates his case with unusual rigor. In the quest for the brass ring of financial success, corner-cutting, absence of candor, and distortions of fact have become increasingly tolerated, to the extent that clients, the public, and lawyers themselves no longer have a sense of trust and confidence in the legal profession. Obviously, changes are needed, and unless they come from within the firms themselves, lawyers can be sure that they will come from individuals, agencies, and organizations outside these firms. Attorneys in all kinds of practices, their clients in all sectors of the economy, and academics concerned with the practice of law in all its dimensions will find Fleming's book informative, challenging, and certainly provocative reading. Fleming starts by examining what he sees as a paradox: a large increase in lawyers' fees despite a fourfold increase in lawyer numbers and a threefold increase in their proportion of the general population. What happened to the law of supply and demand? he asks. After tracing the history of the large corporate law firm and its dominance within the profession, he shows how cost-effectiveness within large firms has declined while at the same time what he calls the magic of the emperor's new clothes has suspended the law of supply and demand. He discusses excessive legal fees, their resistance to client and court controls, and relates his discussion to the present pervasive distrust of lawyers among the public. Fleming outlines the four existing challenges to business-as-usual by lawyers and law firms, and then ventures his own analysis of the needed future changes in law firms. These include professional law firm management under a less archaic structure, effective integrity and quality controls, cost-controlled delivery of legal services, and increased job satisfaction for its working lawyers.

Focusing on fundamental principles, Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments presents in-depth information about freshwater environments and how they are influenced by regulation. It provides a holistic approach, exploring the factors that impact water quality and quantity, and the regulations, policy and management methods that are ne

Understand the current concept of wetland and methods for identifying, describing, classifying, and delineating wetlands in the United States with Wetland Indicators - capturing the current state of science's role in wetland recognition and mapping. Environmental scientists and others involved with wetland regulations can strengthen their knowledge about wetlands, and the use of various indicators, to support their decisions on difficult wetland determinations. Professor Tiner primarily focuses on plants, soils, and other signs of wetland hydrology in the soil, or on the surface of wetlands in his discussion of Wetland Indicators. Practicing - and aspiring - wetland delineators alike will appreciate Wetland Indicators' critical insight into the development and significance of hydrophytic vegetation, hydric soils, and other factors. Features Color images throughout illustrate wetland indicators. Incorporates analysis and coverage of the latest Army Corps of Engineers delineation manual. Provides over 60 tables, including extensive tables of U.S. wetland plant communities and examples for determining hydrophytic vegetation.