In an era where the changing climate can disproportionately impact the most vulnerable, the Environmental Justice Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law continues to lead the conversation on how legal education must evolve. The latest scholarship from Doug Ruley, director of the Clinic, and Abigail Fleming, the Clinic’s associate director, offers a definitive roadmap for this transformation.
Their chapter, "The Heart of Partnerships: Working with Environmental and Climate Justice Stakeholders," appears in the new volume Teaching and Learning Climate and Environmental Justice in Law Schools: Global Perspectives on Transforming the Curriculum (Routledge, 2026).
Ruley and Fleming argue that teaching environmental justice cannot be confined to the four walls of a traditional classroom. Instead, they contend that the "heart" of effective justice work—as well as legal education—lies in the cultivation of deep, reciprocal partnerships with community stakeholders.
Drawing on their extensive work at Miami Law’s EJC, they highlight how the clinic serves as a bridge between high-level legal theory and the lived realities of South Florida residents. From addressing toxic contamination in Overtown to fighting "climate gentrification" in the West Grove, Ruley and Fleming demonstrate that students learn best when they are collaborators with, rather than just advocates for, marginalized communities.
Ruley has litigated environmental cases for many years, including as a staff attorney with Earthjustice in Alaska, as managing attorney for the Asheville office of the Southern Environmental Law Center, and as Chief Counsel of ClientEarth.
Fleming’s work focuses on climate, environmental, and energy justice, seeking systemic change through community lawyering, advocacy, public policy resources, rights education, and interdisciplinary research.
Read more about Miami Law’s environmental law area of study.
