Nicholas Schroeck

Nick Schroeck, director of the Transnational Environmental Law Clinic, teaches the clinic, advanced clinic, Environmental Law and Energy Law Current Topics Seminar at Wayne State University Law School. In addition to his teaching, Schroeck supervises clinic student attorneys on a variety of environmental law and policy matters. He also serves as co-director of community outreach and engagement at the university's Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors.

Schroeck has represented the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Michigan Environmental Council, National Wildlife Federation and Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, among others. Licensed to practice in Michigan, he has litigated cases before administrative tribunals; in Circuit Court, Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court; and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. His areas of expertise include air pollution, water pollution, environmental justice, transportation and citizen suit enforcement.

He is a sought-after expert and commentator on environmental matters. Schroeck is a regular in-studio guest on WDET-FM 101.9 in Detroit, and he is frequently quoted by The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. He has provided analysis for The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time and National Public Radio, including a featured appearance on “Science Friday.”

In 2014, Schroeck was a visiting professor at the Northwest University of Politics and Law in Xi'an China, teaching International Environmental Law. He also has taught International Environmental Law for Southwestern Law School's Vancouver Study Abroad program at the University of British Columbia.

Previously, Schroeck was executive director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, a 501(c)(3) public interest law organization that works in partnership with the clinic. Prior to leading the Center, he was a regional representative and attorney for the National Wildlife Federation, America's largest conservation organization, out of its Great Lakes Natural Resources Center in Ann Arbor. Before joining the federation, he was a Sea Grant Fellow with the Great Lakes Commission. During law school, Schroeck interned with the Michigan Attorney General's office, where he assisted with the prosecution of environmental crimes. He also served as a student attorney and as board secretary of the Free Legal Aid Clinic. Prior to law school, Schroeck worked in electoral politics as a field coordinator on the 2002 Connecticut governor's race and as a paralegal at a law firm in Washington, D.C.

Schroeck is a graduate of Wayne Law. He also holds a bachelor of arts degree, cum laude, in urban studies and political science from Elmhurst College in Illinois. While at Elmhurst, he had the distinction to study for a year in the Politics Honors College at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

An avid reader, Schroeck enjoys travel, gardening and cooking with his wife, Elizabeth, who is a third-grade teacher in Rochester. Proud supporters of Detroit's cultural gems, you are likely to run into them at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra or Detroit Lions games.