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Mindy Goldstein

Clinical Professor of Law
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Areas of Expertise

Environmental Law

Courses

Administrative Law, Contract Law, Environmental Advocacy, Environmental Law, Turner Environmental Law Clinic

Biography

Clinical Professor Mindy Goldstein is director of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic and director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program at Emory Law School. She has represented clients in complex environmental litigation before judicial and administrative tribunals; in legislative and policy matters at the local, state, and federal levels; and in land use and other transactions. Her work focuses on matters related to sustainable energy and climate change, land use and conservation, regenerative agriculture and urban farming, protection of natural resources, and access to information. She has successfully litigated cases before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and various district courts, and she has testified before several federal agencies. 

Her representations have garnered national attention, appearing in hundreds of news stories through print media, broadcast news, and the Internet, including coverage by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, The Hill, National Public Radio, The Economist, and The New York Times.

Goldstein graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina, earning a BS in biology with a minor in chemistry. She received her JD from the University of Maryland, where she graduated magna cum laude with a concentration in environmental law. After law school, Goldstein was an associate in the law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton (now Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton), where she represented clients in commercial real estate transactions. Her work often concerned environmental liability arising from the purchase and development of land.

At Emory, Goldstein has represented clients in investigating, understanding, and challenging violations of various environmental laws. She has drafted and prepared comments on proposed statutes, regulations, and guidance documents, administrative decisions, zoning ordinances, environmental impact statements, and permits before local, state, and federal agencies. 

In addition to this work, Goldstein has given lectures and presentations on a wide variety of environmental issues around the country. She sits on the board of several environmental nonprofit organizations, including Global Growers. She is the co-chair of the Georgia Public Interest Environmental Law Coalition and a member of the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership class of 2015. She is the recipient of the 2016 Ogden Doremus Award for Excellence in Environmental Law, the inaugural Emory University Sustainability Faculty Fellow for 2018-2020, and a Senior Faculty Fellow with Emory’s Center for Ethics for 2019-2021.

Goldstein teaches classes in administrative law, contract law, environmental advocacy, environmental law, and the Turner Environmental Law Clinic.