Throughout the conference, CSLDF will have lawyers available for one-on-one meetings with scientists. Please email us at lawyer@climatesciencedefensefund.org to reserve a time. You can also reserve time confidentially between 8am-3pm Monday thru Wednesday at Moscone South: Mezzanine – Room 264

We will be in the exhibit hall at booth #140. Stop by to say hello and find out what we have planned for next year.

You can also spend your lunchtime with CSLDF and hear from lawyers who deal with the challenges that scientists face everyday. Here is the schedule of workshops:

Monday 3 Dec 2012 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Legal Duties to Preserve and Disclose Scientific Data and Personal Communications
San Francisco Marriott Marquis – Salon 10

Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University will discuss the increasing number of Freedom of Information Act requests and subpoenas that scientists are facing, and what kinds of documents scientists are required to disclose and to whom. Special attention will be devoted to e-mail and social media.

Tuesday 4 Dec 2012 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
The Law for Government Scientists
San Francisco Marriott Marquis – Salon 10

Kit Douglass from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) will discuss how legal provisions that affect you as a government scientist.

Wednesday 5 December 2012 from 12:30 – 1:30PM
An Inside Look at the Michael Mann Case
Moscone South: Mezzanine – Room 226

Peter Fontaine, counsel to Michael Mann and a leader of Cozen O’Connor’s Brownfield Development and Climate Change practices will use examples from recent Freedom of Information Act litigation American Tradition Institute v. University of Virginia to discuss the application of state public records acts to researcher electronic correspondence, the interplay between the Federal FOIA and state laws, practical issues related to document review, potential exemptions to protect correspondence from disclosure, and other legal theories for the protection of correspondence, such as the First Amendment and Academic Freedom, and emerging trends in this dynamic intersection between science and the law.

In recent years, an increasing number of scientists have found themselves involved in legal discussions about their work, their correspondence, and their public statements. To better prepare the scientific community for these challenges, AGU and CSLDF have put together a legal education program for the scientific community. The goal is to both give a primer on the legal issues facing scientists and update them on legal situations currently making their way through the courts.

The legal education program will start with a series of webinars featuring some of the lawyers on the front lines of climate science litigation. These webinars will be followed by a series of legal education events at AGU’s 2012 Fall Meeting.

RSVP to sciencepolicy@agu.org for any or all of the following webinars:

Michael Gerrard

19 September at 12:00h EST
What Documents Must Scientists Keep and Disclose?
Online archive (Adobe Connect must be installed. Get it here.)

Many scientists, especially climate scientists, have received subpoenas, Freedom of Information Act requests, and other demands for their e-mails, letters, raw data, and other communications. If they have not kept all this information, they are sometimes accused of destroying evidence. This webinar will discuss (1) the kinds of documents scientists are required by law to keep (depending largely on their employment situation) and (2) the kinds of documents scientists are required to disclose and to whom, based on the type of legal demand. Special attention will be devoted to e-mail (both in office and home systems) and to social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) communications.

Michael Gerrard is the director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. Formerly the managing partner of the 110-lawyer New York office of Arnold & Porter LLP, Gerrard is the most prolific writer on environmental law in the United States. He has written or edited seven books in the field, two of which were named best law book of the year by the American Association of Publishers—Environmental Law Practice Guide (12 volumes, 1992) and Brownfields Law and Practice (4 volumes, 1998). His most recent books are the second edition of The Law of Environmental Justice (ABA, 2008), and Global Climate Change and U.S. Law (American Bar Association, 2007). These activities have given Gerrard a high profile around the world. Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Environment Lawyers, based on 4,000 questionnaires, reported that he “received more personal nominations for this guide than any other lawyer in the world.” Gerrard has consistently been ranked as either the single leading environmental lawyer in New York or as tied for first.

Peter Fontaine

22 October at 12:00h EST
An Inside Look at the Michael Mann Case

This webinar will provide an overview of the ongoing Freedom of Information Act litigation American Tradition Institute v. University of Virginia, Prince William County. It will be hosted by Peter Fontaine, counsel to Dr. Michael Mann. The free-ranging discussion will include issues related to Dr. Mann’s personal intervention in the case, application of state public records acts to researcher electronic correspondence, the interplay between the Federal FOIA and state laws, practical issues related to document review, potential exemptions to protect correspondence from disclosure, and other legal theories for the protection of correspondence, such as the First Amendment and Academic Freedom, and emerging trends in this dynamic intersection between science and the law.

Peter Fontaine is a leader of Cozen O’Connor’s Brownfield Development and Climate Change practices, which rely on his prior experience as a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lawyer at its Washington, D. C. headquarters. From 1990 to 1992, Pete was an Attorney-Advisor in EPA’s Air Enforcement Division, where he helped draft EPA’s enforcement regulations under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and was an expert on enforcement of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and New Source Review (NSR) for power plants and municipal waste combustors. In 1992, he was asked to serve on EPA’s first Multimedia Enforcement Task Force. Pete planned and executed EPA’s 1992 national enforcement initiative against the pulp and paper industry, for which he received EPA’s Award for Excellence.

Jeff Ruch

13 November at 12:00h EST
State Public Record Laws Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)

PEER has spent the last several months surveying state public records laws to compile a review of provisions affecting university scientists. PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch will compare and contrast different state laws as well as the Federal Freedom of Information Act, and he will discuss how these laws can affect university researchers.

PEER is a national nonprofit service organization assisting public agency scientists, attorneys, and other specialists working on environmental issues. Headquartered in D. C., PEER has seven field offices across the country. Jeff Ruch has been the Executive Director of PEER since 1997. Prior to that, Jeff was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sector. Before coming to D. C., Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees, where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors.

Today, the Virginia Supreme Court rejected Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s Civil Investigative Demands (CID) — essentially subpoenas — that would have required the University of Virginia (UVA) to turn over emails and other private correspondence among former university climate scientist Michael Mann and dozens of his colleagues.

Since April 2010, Cuccinelli, who does not accept climate change science, has repeatedly attempted to use his power as attorney general to access the scientists’ correspondence – including emails, research drafts and even handwritten notes — through the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.

Today’s decision follows a circuit court judge’s motion in August 2010 to set aside Cuccinelli’s request. The circuit court judge ruled that the attorney general had failed to provide any evidence of wrongdoing by Mann or any other climate scientist. Several independent investigations have cleared Mann of any research misconduct, and Mann’s data and methods are publicly available.

Below is a statement from Michael Halpern, program manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Scientific Integrity Program:

“We applaud the high court for reaffirming that Mr. Cuccinelli didn’t have a legal leg to stand on in his pursuit of Mann’s and other scientists’ private correspondence. The university should be commended for its courage in standing up to the attorney general to ensure Virginia will remain a safe place for scientific research, even when elected officials don’t like the results.

“Academic institutions have the responsibility to protect their faculty’s ability to discover new things about our world without fearing harassment. Nobody should expect the rough drafts of their work to be subject to the same level of scrutiny as their published research.

“Now, it’s time for leaders in Virginia to move on. The attorney general’s fishing expedition represents a failure to govern. For two years, the attorney general has joined a small but vocal minority in a pointless and costly investigation that has done nothing but distract Virginia from the real challenge: mitigating and adapting to climate change.”

1. Fend-off ATI’s demand to take Dr. Mann’s deposition, which is a blatant attempt to harass and intimidate him for exercising his constitutional rights by petitioning to intervene in the case.
2. Defeat ATI’s attempt to obtain Dr. Mann’s email correspondence through the civil discovery process, which essentially is an “end-run” around the scholarly research exemption under the Virginia FOIA law.
3. Prepare for summary judgment on the issue of the exempt status of his email correspondence under the Virginia FOIA law.

Donations can be sent to CSLDF online or by sending a check made out to PEER, with Climate Science LDF on the memo line to:

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
c/o PEER 2000 P Street, NW #240
Washington, D.C. 20036

Through PEER, a private non-profit organization organized under Section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue code, your contribution will be tax deductible.

PEER Sponsors Effort to Counter Fossil-Fueled Attacks on Climate Scientists

Washington, DC — The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) has found a non-profit home in Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) which provides it fiscal sponsorship and logistical support.  CSLDF lets scientific colleagues and the public directly help climate scientists protect themselves and their work from industry-funded legal attacks.

In recent years, these legal attacks have intensified, especially against climate scientists.  The fund is designed to help scientists like Professor Michael Mann cope with the legal fees that stack up in fighting attempts by climate-skeptic groups to gain access to private emails and other correspondence through lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act requests at their public universities.

The project is co-directed by physical sciences Professor Scott Mandia of Suffolk County Community College and Joshua Wolfe, co-author of “Climate Change: Picturing the Science.”  The Fund started this past fall after Prof. Mandia posted a “Dear Colleague” appeal for support which generated more than $10,000 in less than 24 hours (http://bit.ly/qzg7X4).  To date, CSLDF has raised $25,000.  All contributions to CSLDF are tax-deductible.

“Academic salaries are not designed to support ongoing legal expenses in fights with corporate-funded law firms and institutes,” said Prof. Mandia.  “These legal battles also have taken many of our brightest scientific minds away from their research.”

“Our goal is not only to defend the scientist but to protect the scientific endeavor,” explained Wolfe. “The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund was established to make sure that these legal claims are not viewed as an action against one scientist or institution but as actions against the scientific endeavor as a whole.”

In addition to its core mission of defraying legal fees, CSLDF will

• Educate researchers about their legal rights and responsibilities on issues surrounding their work;
• Serve as a clearinghouse for information related to legal actions taken against scientists; and
• Recruit and assist lawyers representing these scientists.

“The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund dovetails with the mission of PEER – to protect those who protect our environment,” stated PEER executive Director Jeff Ruch.  “When individual researchers find themselves under intense legal assault, they often have few resources. Their universities do not necessarily represent their interests and may be disinclined to resist corporate fishing expeditions.  We are stepping into this void to provide direct aid to both the scientists and their institutions.”