Kent alumnus Ben Stansfield delivered a talk on ‘An environmental lawyer’s soundtrack’ for LLM students as part of Kent Law School’s Environmental Law Seminar Series.<\/p>\n
Ben\u00a0(who graduated in 1999) is currently a partner and Head of Environmental Law at Stephenson Harwood in London. He is also involved with UKELA (the UK Environmental Law Association) where he has spent eight years as a trustee (with three of these years spent as Vice Chair).<\/p>\n
Ben’s talk on Monday 29 October took Kent LLM students through his journey from the time he left the University of Kent to the present day. He\u00a0spoke about the role of an environmental lawyer, pointing out what environmental lawyers can do in terms of civil law (Transactions), criminal law (Litigation) and public law (Regulatory Advice). He also talked about a particular case study involving the North London Heat and Power Project,\u00a0an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) generating 70MW of electricity using residual waste.<\/p>\n
As a member of Stephenson Harwood’s Graduate Recruitment Panel, Ben also shared some top tips for success in securing training contracts. He advised students that it was important to: get good grades; network; keep in touch; get legal experience; be interested (as well as interesting) in an interview; show some passion and excitement; and to have ‘something different’ to help them succeed in obtaining the contract.<\/p>\n
Ben\u2019s talk helped attendees gain a more practical perspective on careers within the environmental law field. It was a useful overview of a broad range of environmental law policies and a helpful insight into practicing law in general. It was indeed a privilege to attend the seminar and we are grateful to Ben for \u2018coming back and giving back\u2019.<\/p>\n
Kent LLM Student Siwat Pornchai<\/em><\/p>\n Environmental law at Kent<\/strong><\/p>\n Environmental law is a recognised and long-established area of teaching and research expertise at Kent Law School. Academics, including\u00a0Professor William Howarth<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Dr Martin Hedemann-Robinson,<\/a>\u00a0are engaged in research across a number of areas of environmental law, with research spanning international, European and national law and policy.\u00a0The Law School\u2019s Environmental Law Seminar Series has been designed specifically for LLM (Master\u2019s in Law) students with an interest in the environmental law modules offered at Kent.<\/p>\n Kent LLM<\/a>\u00a0students can graduate on the\u00a0International Environmental Law\u00a0and Policy pathway<\/a>\u00a0by (i) opting to study at least three (out of six) modules from those associated with the pathway of their choice and by (ii) focusing the topic of their dissertation on their chosen pathway. Students can also study environmental law in combination with other areas offered by the Law School.<\/p>\n A record of previous talks held as part of the Law School Environmental Law Seminar Series is available on our\u00a0news blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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