Meet Ronald Rosenberg
By John Crouch, Attorney at Law,
Crouch & Crouch, Arlington, Virginia; (703)
528-6700;
Copyright John Crouch 1994 / / Amicus Curiae, College of William
and Mary
Other Crouch Articles
Professor Ronald Rosenberg not only teaches and writes about land use law--he
makes it. He recently completed his term on a new commission that wrote
regulations on the use of nearly all the land that drains into the Chesapeake
Bay. Before that, he chaired James City County's Board of Zoning Appeals
for four years. For him, the purpose of legal education is to "get
involved in solving real-world problems" and "affect people's
lives." He hopes to convey this activism to his students.
Rosenberg is presently finishing an article on the environmental fallout
from base closings and preparing a new edition of his Environmental Law
casebook. He also gives Continuing Legal Education seminars and advises
Virginia's State Water Control Board and the private Historic Rivers Land
Conservancy. He is negotiating conservation easements with the Governor's
Land community on the James River, and is helping a rural black community
stop a landfill.
The landfill, in King and Queen County, Virginia, would be next door to
an African-American church, reportedly the oldest in the state. Rosenberg
recently convinced a Richmond court to deny a motion to dismiss the community's
suit.
When Rosenberg gets home from work, his environmental activism intensifies
as he tries to get his wife, his 16-year old son and his 10-year old daughter
involved in raking up leaves from the centuries-old oak trees that surround
his house.
Rosenberg grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland when it was changing from
farmland to suburbia, and got his B.A. at Columbia University. He learned
the value of community involvement when he was at UNC Chapel Hill, where
he earned a J.D. and a Master's degree in regional and city planning simultaneously.
His planning professors were all practicing planners, and he witnessed them
working as equals with people from many walks of life.
In contrast, he noted, law professors at the time appeared to write and
teach in an ivory tower. He points out that even though he and others at
Marshall-Wythe no longer fit that image, students still "only see the
surface of what we do."
Rosenberg's first job was with the Environmental Protection Agency. He spent
two years representing the Agency's views to Congressional committees that
were amending the Clean Air Act.
Serving on the zoning board was an "awesome" and nerve-wracking
experience for Rosenberg, and he would recommend it to young lawyers. It
provided an opportunity to administer the law "in a judicial capacity"
while working with ordinary citizens. He was impressed with the common sense
and discernment that non-lawyers brought to bear on land use issues.
Rosenberg emphasizes that nearly all law school graduates, whatever their
specialty, will have opportunities to use their skills for the public good.
He hopes they will not neglect their responsibilities to society. He says
he is especially worried that few students seem interested in the Dean search
process, which will have an enormous effect on the future value of their
Marshall-Wythe diplomas.
On the other hand, he is proud of having steered many students toward public
interest and policy work. He sees law school as a pivotal place, where one's
intentions to work for social improvement can be either realized or lost.
- John Crouch
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