Staff or Senior Attorney – Environmental Justice

Full-time

No

Staff or Senior Attorney – Environmental Justice at Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC)

SELC is seeking an experienced attorney to join our Environmental Justice Initiative and enhance our capacity to bring cases and implement policies that move the South toward environmental justice. This is a full-time, exempt position with a minimum salary of $103,283. The preferred location for this position is SELC’s Chapel Hill, NC office, but other locations can be considered.

Responsibilities:

- Identify the most pressing environmental injustices in our region and seek out significant cases or impactful approaches that leverage changes in law and policy
- Work as a partner on regional environmental justice strategy with the leader of SELC’s Environmental Justice Initiative, SELC attorneys and other staff working on environmental justice matters
- Engage in select litigation on environmental justice matters in state, federal, administrative, or quasi-judicial proceedings
- Conduct research to support environmental justice legal and policy work
- Help integrate environmental justice considerations and priorities throughout SELC’s legal and policy advocacy work
- Develop new relationships and strengthen existing ones with communities of color and other underserved communities across our region
- Partner with SELC’s Environmental Justice Initiative Leader to connect underserved communities with Inflations Reduction Act grant opportunities
- Prepare and deliver external presentations that align with SELC’s EJ initiative and raise the profile of SELC
- Represent SELC in public settings including coalition and community meetings, hearings, and with press
- Engage in outreach by attending grassroots convenings and collaborating with environmental advocates, community organizations, and neighborhood associations
- Provide guidance on how to engage in outreach to SELC staff

Qualifications:

- Five or more years of practice with litigation experience and an interest in engaging in select strategic litigation to advance environmental justice
- Strong work ethic and initiative
- Skilled and multi-faceted lawyer with excellent academic credentials, a background in environmental justice law, policy, and regulation, effective communication and interpersonal skills, and a demonstrated ability to work well in a collegial setting
- A strong personal commitment to SELC’s mission and a history of working with communities of color and involving impacted communities in decision-making
- Active listener and collaborator with experience working with community-based organizations

About SELC:

- One of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South
- Nonprofit and nonpartisan organization with a staff of over 200, including more than 100 attorneys
- Headquartered in Charlottesville, VA, with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, DC
- Place-based and connected with the communities and clients we serve
- Committed to an equitable and inclusive workplace that reflects the rich racial and cultural diversity of our region
- Values collaboration, camaraderie, and impact through a strategic, bold, pragmatic, and ambitious outlook
- PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) eligible employer

Compensation & Benefits:

- Competitive salaries and excellent benefits package
- Minimum salary for this position is $103,283, with salary commensurate with experience
- PSLF eligible employer
- Relocation reimbursement for those relocating for an SELC position, up to a specific dollar amount and contingent on the move being at least 50 miles from the current primary address

To Apply:

- Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button below to be directed to an online application where you may upload your application materials
- Applicants must submit a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, one writing sample, and three professional references
- Interested persons should apply immediately, as applications will be accepted and reviewed until the position is filled

Not specified

Competitive salary, excellent benefits package, PSLF eligible, relocation reimbursement

Not specified

Litigation, strategic planning, research, communication, community engagement, collaboration

Law degree (J.D.)

Online application with cover letter, resume, law school transcript, writing sample, and three professional references

Qualification and Experience Active attorney with five or more years of experience

Legal