Practicing environmental law often feels like watching grass grow. Cases stemming from the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act1 (CERCLA or “Superfund”), the comprehensive federal law governing the cleanup of contaminated lands, take years—occasionally decades—to reach resolution. 

As the United States has pursued her national interests over the last two decades, the importance of alliances has become ever more apparent. The recent interim national security strategic guidance calls for a renewed commitment to our partnerships around the world “because our strength is multiplied when we combine efforts to address common challenges, share costs, and widen the circle of cooperation.”

[T]he very fact that warfare is of such character as to afford infinite provocation for the commission of acts of cruelty by junior officers and the enlisted men, must make the officers in high and responsible position peculiarly careful in their bearing and conduct so as to keep a moral check over any acts of an improper character by their subordinates.

If the law were black and white, there would be no need for lawyers. It is in those grey areas, between the seams, where national security law (NSL) professionals find their value. What I have found as an NSL paralegal is that those things I enjoy doing most—researching, compiling references, drafting legal arguments—are the exact things my attorneys need from me. I have no desire to litigate the issue in front of the command. My drive is always toward finding the answers.