Pathways to the Profession: Lily Moran L’22
Lily Moran L’22 is from Reading, Pennsylvania and studied environmental science and policy and international relations as an undergraduate at Cornell University. She is interested in environmental and energy law.
This summer I am a legal intern for the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General (NYS AG). Due to COVID-19 related complications, I am working remotely from Philadelphia. However, I am grateful to be able to continue my internship as a 2020 Leo Model Foundation Government and Public Affairs Initiative Summer Fellow, which has provided funding for my internship program this summer.
The Environmental Protection Bureau is dedicated to combatting environmental threats to the natural resources and public health of New York. Attorney General Letitia James strongly emphasizes environmental protection within her administration, and the Bureau handles a spectrum of matters from affirmative and defensive environmental litigation to preliminary investigative work.
This summer, I am excited to be working with a team of attorneys with expertise in defending New York’s environment and citizens using both law and science. I have had the opportunity to assist with a lawsuit related to landlord non-compliance with lead poisoning legislation for the protection of children as well as air pollution caused by diesel idling by a particular transportation industry in New York City. I have also worked on settlements related to holding entities responsible for hazardous waste pollution accountable for the remedial costs.
The diverse nature of the Bureau has allowed me to try a range of assignments from legal research and drafting a legal standard section of a brief to investigative digging into potential abuses of environmental reporting requirements. I have already gained valuable insights into environmental protection and justice work through my time with the NYS AG. It has been especially rewarding to work alongside these advocates in a time in which many foundational environmental protections are being challenged and eroded.
This summer, I also had the opportunity to work as a research assistant for Edward B. Shils Professor of Law Cary Coglianese. My research was focused on the regulatory space, including the role of voluntary codes and standards in influencing product development and procedure regulation. I am grateful to Professor Coglianese for helping me contextualize the role and importance of administrative law in environmental regulation, which I was able to see clearly during my time with the NYS AG.
I hope to use the perspective and experience that I gain this summer and in my remaining years of law school to continue to be an advocate for environmental justice. The fierce commitment of the Environmental Protection Bureau to this mission has been of great inspiration, and I would like to thank the fantastic team at the Bureau for their guidance and dedication!
