Vermont Law and Graduate School

Vermont Law School was one of two law schools in the U.S. to decline to receive federal funding under the Solomon Amendment. That statute passed by Congress required colleges and universities to allow military recruitment on campus or risk losing federal funding.[11] The school is also part of FAIR Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, a consortium of 38 law schools and law faculties that challenged the Solomon Amendment in Rumsfeld v. FAIR, and lost. Following the repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' in 2011, the school has allowed military recruitment on campus.

The Law School has partnered with different domestic and international universities to offer dual-degree programs. Domestic schools include: Yale School of the Environment (JD/Master of Environmental Management),[15][16] Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (MELP/Master of Business Administration), the University of Vermont Rubenstein School of Natural Resources (MELP/Master of Science in Natural Resources), Thunderbird School of Global Management (JD/Masters of Business Administration), the University of South Carolina (MELP/JD), University of South Dakota (MELP/JD), and Northeastern University School of Law (MELP/JD). International universities include the University of Cambridge (JD/master of philosophy), Cergy-Pontoise University (France), and the University of Seville (Spain).

The Julien and Virginia Cornell Library opened in 1991.[17] The library contains over 250,000 print volumes, including primary and secondary legal materials focusing on state, national, and international law.[18] The library also possesses a collection of microforms including congressional documents, state session laws, and briefs. The library's electronic collection includes access to LexisNexis and Westlaw and other online gateways and databases, as well as a large catalog of full-text electronic journals and books and databases offering primary legal materials.

Vermont Law School maintains "an extensive interdisciplinary environmental collection, including journals, monographs, electronic resources, and other material related to the study of the environment and environmental law and policy."[19]

• Environmental Law Center — The Environmental Law Center (ELC) began in 1978 with eight master's degree students. As noted, the ELC's program is consistently top-ranked by U.S. News & World Report.[23] The ELC confers both the Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP) and Master of Laws in Environmental Law (LLM) degrees. The Class of 2008 included 87 students receiving these master's degrees.
• Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) — The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) has a dual mission: to train the next generation of food and agriculture advocates and entrepreneurs, and to create innovative legal tools supporting the new food movement. CAFS trains students through a comprehensive array of residential and distance learning courses and a Food and Agriculture Clinic. VLGS offers a JD Certificate in Food and Agriculture, and both Master's and LLM degrees in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy. CAFS' diverse course offerings, law clinic and degree options make it the most comprehensive sustainable food, agriculture, and environmental law graduate program in the country. CAFS also publishes a variety of resources on food and agriculture policy topics.[24]
• Institute for Energy & the Environment — The Institute for Energy and the Environment (IEE) is a national and international resource for energy law and policy. The Institute offers a full course curriculum and a certificate of concentration during the academic year and through its Energy Summer seminars; distributes scholarly, technical, and practical publications; provides forums and conferences for professional education and issue development; and serves as a center for graduate research on energy issues, with an environmental awareness.[25] The Institute’s research team is selected from top students in the energy and environmental programs at Vermont Law School.[26] The Institute maintains the IEE blog focused on current events and research.
• Environmental Tax Policy Institute — The Institute analyzes ways in which taxation can address environmental problems. As a resource for the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, the press and academia, the Institute seeks to better inform the public policy debate about the role of environmental taxes at the local, state and federal levels.
• Land Use Institute — The Land Use Institute (LUI) addresses intensifying land use law and policy issues at the local, national, and international levels that critically pertain to the development of a sustainable society. These issues include application of smart growth principles, ecological planning, affordable housing, flood hazard mitigation, improving the confluence of energy and land use regulatory decision-making and other permitting processes, and land conservation strategies. LUI works with VLS faculty and students, and other nonprofit legal and professional planning partners, to provide sound and innovative information, experience, and education to advance the practice of land use law and planning. This mission is served through direct support for local and regional planning agencies, forums and conferences for issue development, preparation of legislation affecting critical land use issues, education and training for state and local land use planners and regulators, practical and scholarly publications, and graduate professional teaching.

• Environmental Advocacy Clinic — The Environmental Advocacy Clinic assists major conservation organizations and local community groups to promote access to justice on important environmental and natural resources issues.[27] In 2019, the National Wildlife Federation selected the Environmental Advocacy Clinic to represent the Federation on its national legal advocacy work.[28]
• Environmental Justice Clinic — Launched in 2019, the Environmental Justice Clinic became one of the only law clinics specifically devoted to environmental justice, providing legal services to low income communities and communities of color fighting the unjust distribution of pollution sources within those areas.[29]
• Energy Clinic—Started in 2014, the Energy Clinic is one of the only law clinics in the United States focused on promoting climate justice and renewable energy. The Energy Clinic provides opportunities for students to progressively develop the knowledge, skills, and values integral to the field of energy law and policy, while helping clients meet local energy needs with reliable, clean, and affordable resources.[30]
• Food and Agriculture Clinic — Students in the Food and Agriculture Clinic collaborate with local, regional, national, and international partners, and engage in law and policy work that addresses challenges related to food and land justice, public health, the economy, food security, and animal welfare.[31]
• South Royalton Legal Clinic — The South Royalton Legal Clinic serves Vermont residents who are unable to afford counsel and who need assistance with issues such as bankruptcy, children’s rights, disability, domestic violence, family law, housing, immigration, veterans issues and wills.[32]
• Legislative Clinic — In the Legislative Clinic, students to work under the supervision of attorneys supporting the work of the Vermont General Assembly. Under the supervision of the Vermont Legislative Council, students work on bills, amendments, and related research projects. They observe floor debates, attend committee hearings, and participate in hearings as needed by the committees.[33]
• Immigration Clinic — Expanded alongside the opening of the Burlington satellite office in 2020, this clinic offers assistance to Vermonters on issues of immigration law.[34]
• General Practice Program — The General Practice Program (GPP) was instituted in 1987. The GPP is recipient of the American Bar Association's E. Smythe Gambrell Award for Professionalism, a national award for law schools and other organizations in recognition for advancing professionalism in the practice of law.
• Legal Clinic of Petrozavodsk State University — Under the patronage of Vermont School of Law at the Faculty of Petrozavodsk State University opened the first legal clinic in Russia in October 1995, supported by the Council of Judges.