Earthjustice seeks an Associate Attorney with two to four years of litigation experience to join our team litigating in state public utility commissions to retire coal plants, stop new gas plants, break down barriers to affordable and resilient clean energy resources, and provide relief to overburdened communities. Today, the energy system relies heavily on fossil fuels and places disproportionate economic and environmental burdens on low-income communities and communities of color. You will hear about environmental racism and environmental injustices firsthand from our clients and partners, and you may have the opportunity to visit frontline communities to understand the situation on the ground.

The Associate Attorney position is a three-year position, with the potential for an extension, designed to help attorneys who are in the early stages of their careers to develop into thoughtful, professional, and effective advocates skilled in the various phases of public interest litigation. As Associate Attorneys gain experience, they gradually take on more independent responsibility for their cases. Many Associates have gone on to other positions within Earthjustice and with other public interest organizations.

At Earthjustice, you will learn how to cultivate relationships with clients and allies and learn how to build coalitions. You’ll learn about media campaigns from our talented Communications staff, and legislative advocacy from our Policy & Legislation experts. Finally, you will gain supervisory experience by hiring, supervising, and mentoring law students who work at Earthjustice as interns or clerks.

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy; and to combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals and communities to engage the critical environmental issues of our time, and bring about positive change. We are guided by a passionate, ambitious vision for the future for people and our planet: until justice stands for all, we will never rest. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

Founded in 1971, Earthjustice has a distinguished track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections. We achieve this by hiring people who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment. Our headquarters is in San Francisco. This role may be performed from our presences in New York City, Washington DC, Denver CO, Philadelphia PA, San Francisco CA and Los Angeles CA.

Responsibilities: 

The level of duties and responsibilities for an Associate Attorney will vary depending on experience. However, among other responsibilities, the Associate should be able to:

• Alongside our staff and our clients, investigate, develop, and prosecute cases at state public utility commissions that will accelerate our transition to an equitable and clean energy grid.
• Work with Clean Energy Program attorneys that appear in state and federal courts and other administrative tribunals, in addition to state public utilities commission work.
• Participate in the full range of tasks involved in complex energy litigation, including discovery, motion practice, briefing, preparation and examination of expert witnesses, negotiations, and oral advocacy.
• Dive deep into voluminous information and datasets about the energy system, obtained through discovery requests, records requests, and public information gathering.
• Work with attorneys that coordinate public outreach campaigns and lobby appointed and elected officials.  Participate in cultivating relationships with new clients, allies, and coalition partners.
• Participate in the hiring process and supervise law students who work at Earthjustice as interns or clerks.
• Support efforts to ensure a diverse, equitable and inclusive work culture that encourages and celebrates differences.