LAND USE LAW: ARGUING FOR CAL. COASTAL COMM'N

During my planning education I had the opportunity to participate in a land use law course, instructed by JD Sheri Russel, a local professional mediator at Bellingham Mediation & Consulting. A key project from this course was creating a legal brief on a hypothetical appeals case for landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases that have established the foundations for land use law. I was tasked with representing the California Coastal Commission in its 1987 case against James and Marilyn Nollan in our 'Supreme' Supreme Court. My brief follows an IRAC outline: Issues, Rules, Applications, and Conclusions which allowed me to draw upon evidence and rulings from previous cases we reviewed in the course to support my client's possession. This project was especially challenging because the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower court, favoring the Nollans. I, along with two of my peers, argued our case for California Coastal Commission in a mock hearing against three other students representing the Nollans.