Closing Statement. ELI's E-xcellent Adventure

• Author: J. William Futrell
• Position: President
• Pages: 60-60

ELI REPORT

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60 ❖THE ENVIRONMENTTHE ENVIRONMENT

THE ENVIRONMENTTHE ENVIRONMENT

THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUMAL FORUM

AL FORUMAL FORUM

AL FORUM

J. William Futrell

President

Closing Statement

ELI’s E-xcellent Adventure

It has been 30 years since we

began as an Institute, and started

producing ELR - The Environ-

mental Law Reporter as our initial

project. But after three decades of

publication, we are running flat out

trying to stay abreast of the chal-

lenges of operating in a new business

environment. In fact, we have seen as

much change in the last 18 months

as the previous 18 years.

As the Internet grows, all publish-

ers face new pressures to meet new

markets, but few as much as those

whose business is providing critical

information and analysis. Seizing the

opportunities offered by electronic

publishing, ELR is undergoing its

most fundamental overhaul in 30

years.

The remake reflects the strong new

leadership that John Turner is giving

us as our vice president for publica-

tions. John joined the staff in June

and for the last nine months he has

been essentially creating a new

publication — one built on the solid

basis of ELR News & Analysis and

ELR’s existing reporting services on

litigation, agency actions, etc., but

adding new dimensions to reflect the

new venues in which environmental

law takes place.

Prior to joining ELI, John was vice

president of Browning Ferris Indus-

tries in charge of state and local

compliance. He has a deep and wide

knowledge of how much of the

action in environmental law and

management takes place at the state

level. ELR has provided superb

coverage on the national scene, but

the service had a very limited ability

to cover state developments; the sheer

number of pages needed monthly

would have been enormous in a

pure-print publishing environment.

John resolved to change this imbal-

ance by creating a hybrid publica-

tion, half print and half a massive

supplement published weekly on

ELI’s Web site (www.eli.org). The

result is State News & Analysis from

ELR. To staff the new service, John

has assembled a team of more than

45 attorneys in 20 different states.

ELR’s next web-based products

are International News & Analysis from

ELR and Health and Safety News &

Analysis from ELR, which will begin

publication this spring. Meanwhile,

some of ELR’s existing services are

switching to the Web to be more

timely. ELR Update, the trusted

weekly, is already far more current

and several times as detailed in the

new medium. ELR’s congressional

and litigation reporting services now

arrive months earlier than before, in

an expanded format, and both now

key the attorney directly into original

source documents and files.

The Internet has transformed —

and expanded — other aspects of the

Institute. Although nothing can

replace direct, personal interaction of

the sort promoted by ELI's Associates

Program, those activities can be

enhanced and their impact broad-

ened. For example, the ELI Associates

Seminars have always been popular,

but these programs used to be limited

to members in specific cities. Now

ELI posts full-text background

materials contributed by the speakers

on its Web site, and after the event

posts a narrative on the discussion,

adding to an ever-growing library of

seminar summaries on our site.

@ELI.ORG, the weekly online

newsletter for ELI Associates,

includes the latest calendar for

seminars plus additional events of

interest to Associates. We expect even

more dramatic changes in ELI's

policy dialogue and legal education

programs during 2000.

ELI research has been similarly

transformed. Our ability to reach

those with an interest in our policy

studies and research reports easily

and affordably has made a dramatic

difference. Every ELI report is now

produced in .pdf format in addition

to its print version. The electronic

editions can be downloaded from

our Web site for free and easily

printed for personal use.

Working online databases, such

as the National Database on Envi-

ronmental Management Systems,

which ELI is helping to build as a

cooperative effort sponsored by the

U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency with the University of North

Carolina, have become research

projects in their own right.

The Web also means that ELI is

never really closed. 24/7 accessibility

is of particular importance to ELI's

various Centers and Programs,

especially those with a regional or

international focus, whose constitu-

ents can be spread over many time

zones and countries.

Since about a third of our work is

overseas, we are seeing a dramatic

difference between countries that are

connected to the Internet and those

that are not. Few developing coun-

tries are more connected than India,

where English is the primary

language of the courts.

Our India project is now in its

third year. ELI lawyers and our

Indian counterparts are very close in

spirit and thoughts because we stay

in touch on a constant basis — by

email. In a few months, we will be

conducting a workshop in Bombay

with a local partner, the Lawyer’s

Collective Action Group, a prominent

non-profit organization that has

brought many groundbreaking cases.

A passage to India is always an

adventure. But, best of all, after the

week of working side by side, we will

continue our project through the

avenues of the World Wide Web.