Hi there does anybody know if CLS offers good courses/seminars in project finance and/or energy?

Hi there does anybody know if CLS offers good courses/seminars in project finance and/or energy?

I made a very quick search and found no specific courses on those issues...

School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University has one of the best Energy Policy and Management programs. They even had a class called Project Finance in Energy Sector. You can cross-register (though it used to be a highly demanded course four years ago). Anyways, you can look it up on SIPA web-site.
B-school also used to have a great Project Finance course though at some point it becomes a bit numerical. If you unlike many lawyers like number-crunching, you can take it or just couple up with other students.
Columbia offers a great array of courses through cross-registration, you can do anything from photography to 17th century Russian Literature in addition to your LL.M

I second VERT, no Project finance/Energy related courses found in the CLS curriculum guide.
http://www.law.columbia.edu/academics/curriculum

I did find this relatively old article (2002) which might be of interest, hope it helps.
http://www.law.columbia.edu/law_school/communications/reports/winter2002

You should also have a look at what NYU has to offer. As a CLS student I think you're allowed to take a couple courses there. A quick search at their course selection however gave nothing convincing either.

Conclusion: NYC is an unnatural city of sin and pollution. If you want to protect the environment, go to the Vermont! Just kidding ;-)

Edit: while Nomadic lawyer is right about the SIPA, if you intend to sit the NY bar you need at least 20 credits taken at the law school. So be warned: too many cross-courses may disqualify you.

Edit: while Nomadic lawyer is right about the SIPA, if you intend to sit the NY bar you need at least 20 credits taken at the law school. So be warned: too many cross-courses may disqualify you.

Thanks to both of you! Very useful comments. I'll look into it.

@ Koala...

Hey hi; Am a lawyer based In India and have handled good deal of Project finance Matters...

Thought I would just add my two cents...

Project finance/Energy law is primarily about Structuring and risk sharing and raising finance.

So, academically, you need to be thorough with Corporate finance/Corporate restructuring and Contracts...

So, YOU NEED NOT look for a specific project finance course in Law as such. (Also,Chances are, that no elite law school offers such a course).

Rather, Pick up a Law School where Corporate law and Finance faculty is great... These courses should ensure that you learn the basic Building Blocks of a successful Project finance lawyer...

Since you mentioned CLS, that, as you are aware, an excellent law school for Corporate law and related verticals.

All the very best..

CEPMLP, Dundee offer course in Petroleum/ mining/ energy taxation and finance. Course has great faculty, flexibility & focus on natural resources sector. I am currently pursuing it. Let me know if i can be of further help.

@ Koala...

Hey hi; Am a lawyer based In India and have handled good deal of Project finance Matters...

Thought I would just add my two cents...

Project finance/Energy law is primarily about Structuring and risk sharing and raising finance.

So, academically, you need to be thorough with Corporate finance/Corporate restructuring and Contracts...

So, YOU NEED NOT look for a specific project finance course in Law as such. (Also,Chances are, that no elite law school offers such a course).

Rather, Pick up a Law School where Corporate law and Finance faculty is great... These courses should ensure that you learn the basic Building Blocks of a successful Project finance lawyer...

Since you mentioned CLS, that, as you are aware, an excellent law school for Corporate law and related verticals.

All the very best..

Its mostly about big like BIG projects which use financial institutions, uni & multilateral organizations, companies and may be even vendor and supplier if its end to end project. That many parties are involved and ev1 needs a lawyer. Banking, Contracts & liasioning with other teams (tax, corp) and project parties in a law firm typically. Another option is in-house of any of the parties above who would work on everything.