Junior Staff Attorney

Position Title: Junior Staff Attorney (Administrative/Environmental/Climate Law)

Department: U.S. Legal 

Location: Washington, DC, Onsite 2 days per week 

Reports To: Senior Attorney 

Application Deadline: Until filled 

Start Date: As soon as possible. 

Minimum Years of Relevant Experience: 2 years 

Salary: EarthRights’ attorney salaries are set according to demonstrated years of experience:

• $95,000-$105,000 

Summary Description 

EarthRights seeks a U.S.-licensed attorney with experience with civil litigation and/or administrative law, to help build and implement litigation strategies relating to corporate accountability for climate harms, including methane and other climate/fossil fuels work. 

The Attorney must have litigation experience, either civil litigation experience, or experience working with administrative law at either the state or federal level, preferably with some exposure to environmental statutes and regulations or other regulations governing the fossil fuel industries. 

Over the past 20 years, EarthRights has built a reputation as one of the leading legal organizations representing communities and individuals from around the world whose rights, livelihoods, and homelands are harmed by corporations, financial institutions, and governments. EarthRights lawyers have worked for decades to help frontline communities around the world shift power and disrupt systems of impunity by centering community struggles against powerful actors and channeling the accountability goals of the community into litigation strategy. We develop innovative legal strategies for accountability and our cases have set legal precedents, brought millions of dollars of compensation to survivors of human rights violations and industrial pollution, and changed the behavior of corporations, governments and international institutions. More recently, EarthRights has begun litigating on behalf of communities in the United States primarily with respect to the harms of climate change and has been developing innovative legal strategies to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable. 

Under the leadership of the U.S. Legal Director and the direct supervision of a Senior Attorney on the team, the Junior Staff Attorney will develop and implement EarthRights legal strategies focused on holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate change and environmental harms, and its impacts on U.S. communities, especially with respect to methane emissions. The Attorney will be based out of EarthRights’ Washington, D.C., office, where we are currently working a hybrid schedule with 2 in-office days per week. 

The Junior Staff Attorney may support other EarthRights litigation, especially during periods of a high volume of work. The Attorney will also coordinate with EarthRights’ campaigns and communications teams to amplify community voices and advocate for community priorities. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and assist with litigating cases to expand EarthRights’ U.S. legal work on climate change and oil and gas industry accountability, especially with respect to methane emissions 
• Conduct rigorous legal and factual research to build new cases 
• Identify and carry out opportunities to advance industry accountability, reduce carbon and methane pollution and support marginalized communities through litigation and other advocacy 
• Develop and maintain understanding of industry data and relevant regulatory regimes
• Support advocacy for administrative and legislative policies through scientific and legal comments, oral testimony, policy analysis and petitions for rulemaking 
• Draft and edit briefs, motions, memos, briefing documents, written comments, and other written materials for submission to federal and state courts, as well as administrative agencies 
• Support discovery activities including propounding discovery, document review, and depositions 
• Represent EarthRights and our clients in court appearances, hearings, negotiations, public meetings, workshops, and other processes 
• Conduct fact-finding and consultation trips to potential and existing client communities as relevant to advance litigation goals, and to assess needs and community priorities and goals
• Contribute to strategic discussions as part of a collaborative legal team. 
• Collaborate with the EarthRights Campaigns Team and Communications Team to amplify client voices and identify advocacy strategies that could complement litigation to meet client/community needs and goals 
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with relevant co-counsel, NGOs, and personnel of partner organizations 
• Manage deliverables on relevant EarthRights grants, and assist Development Team to provide timely and compelling reports, proposals and updates to funders, including representing EarthRights at donor meetings and conferences 
• Contribute to EarthRights’ corporate accountability and climate litigation generally
• Supervise interns, and coordinate programmatic activities 
• Work with staff in other programs and offices to facilitate information flow, maintain collaborative work relationships across the organization and to ensure consistency and integration in support of EarthRights’s strategic priorities 

Qualifications and Experience:

• Licensed to practice law in U.S. with D.C. bar membership or the ability to waive into the D.C. bar 
• At least 2 years of litigation experience, including clerkship experience, with strong preference for some experience with civil litigation and/or federal and state administrative law litigation. 
• Knowledge of legal and policy issues relating to environmental law and climate change and/or some aspects of domestic fossil fuel industry regulatory frameworks. 
• Excellent legal research, analysis, writing and communication skills 
• Ability to dig into and understand industry data 
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously and manage time efficiently to meet relevant deadlines 
• Ability to manage up to obtain guidance when necessary 
• Ability to work well with clients and partners from a diverse range of ethnic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds 
• Commitment to anti-bias and nondiscrimination 

Desirable skills and experience:

• A passion for and commitment to justice and representing clients fighting powerful adversaries 
• Experience working with civil society organizations and a diverse range of people and groups 
• Experience with state or federal regulations governing domestic fossil fuel extraction
• Familiarity with fossil fuel industry data 
• General civil litigation experience, including tort litigation 
• Media, advocacy, and/or campaign experience 
• Ability to work in multiple languages, especially Spanish

Work Authorization

• United States (required; EarthRights will cooperate in obtaining or maintaining work authorization where necessary, but applicants must have authorization or eligibility to obtain authorization immediately) 

Benefits

• 20 days of vacation & 15 sick days per year
• 13 paid federal holidays; office closed from December 24 – January 1
• $200 Home office stipend
• Generous employer non-elective retirement contribution
• Flexible Spending Plan (FSA)
• Employee wellness benefits and transportation benefits
• 18 weeks paid maternity/paternity leave for eligible employees
• Caregiving benefits of $2,000 annually
• Generous Professional Development budget
• Remote work from Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Virginia, Washington, and DC
• A casual work environment

***This position may be included in the EarthRights International Bargaining Unit - United / SIEU Local 500. 

Send application to: https://earthrights.org/careers/ 

Application materials: 

Candidates should submit the following materials: 

• Resume or CV (no longer than 2 pages)
• Cover letter
• Brief (<10 pages) legal writing sample

References may be requested later in the process. Due to the volume of applications, only short listed candidates may be contacted. 

Once your application has been submitted, please go to this link and fill out the demographic survey questions: https://forms.gle/gJFvaz73GkQGSNr18 

This information will not be linked to your individual application in any way, but helps EarthRights evaluate our efforts at recruiting a diverse set of candidates. 

EarthRights International is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate in its hiring practices, and actively encourages people of color, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQI people to apply. 

For more information on the work of EarthRights International visit www.earthrights.org 

This is a grant-funded position with a duration of one year. There is potential for renewal contingent upon future funding availability and program needs.