Associate Attorney

Job Title: Associate Attorney

Department: ELP/Legal

Location: Oakland, California. This position requires an ability to travel.

Reports To: Managing Attorney

Supervises: n/a

Context: At the Sierra Club, we believe in the power of interdependence. Together, we remain committed to the fight for a healthy climate built on a foundation of environmental, racial, economic, and gender justice – a future where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet and a direct connection to nature. As the climate crisis and deeply entrenched systemic racism all fuel injustice, we will continue to fight for a bold, transformational agenda that recognizes the interconnectedness between our planet, our humanity, and our future. By recognizing that our destinies are tied, we continue to name that all things are fundamentally connected, and the overlap between ecology, race, gender, and representative government will move to either advance our collective humanity or to oppress it. Sierra Club has close to 800 staff across the country and a network of 64 local chapters that are led and fueled by thousands of volunteers. We are also proud to be a unionized employer, with three labor unions representing more than half of our employees.

Scope: Sierra Club is seeking an Associate Attorney to join its national legal team as a litigator for Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program. Under the supervision of a managing and senior attorney, the associate attorney would serve as a legal resource for Sierra Club campaigns; litigate environmental and energy cases, with a focus on decarbonizing the electrical grid by replacing coal and fracked gas with clean energy; help design and implement legal and advocacy strategies; and coordinate with campaign staff, coalition partners, and outside counsel.

Job activities include but are not limited to:

• Litigate key Sierra Club lawsuits, under the supervision of managing and senior staff attorneys; assume increasing litigation responsibilities including discovery management, witness handling, legal research and writing, and oral argument.
• Implement strategic, programmatic legal campaigns to support Sierra Club’s campaign objectives; help coordinate the litigation work of strategic legal campaigns; assume responsibility for relationships with staff, volunteer leaders, and outside counsel.
• Help develop and plan programmatic litigation and advocacy campaigns to support Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Initiative, with a focus on replacing coal and gas with clean energy, progressing in the future to clean energy for all initiatives, including building and transportation electrification; assist in drafting legal components of strategic plans and reports.
• Help develop and execute work in a manner that centers on and promotes equity, justice, and inclusion, and intentionally address the history of inequitable environmental and economic burdens carried by communities overburdened by air, water, and climate pollution and disproportionate energy burdens.
• Perform miscellaneous duties as directed.

The successful candidate must demonstrate the following skills, experience and competencies:

• J.D. degree and license to practice law.
• 2-5 years of experience as a practicing attorney.
• Excellent writing, analytical and oral advocacy skills.
• Strong interpersonal and consensus-building skills, including the ability to work collaboratively with clients and colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
• Passion for the Sierra Club’s mission to enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.
• Committed to evolution. You are committed to continuously deepening and evolving your own understanding of systems of oppression through study, openness, and humility. And you easily recognize your own relationship to privilege and power, examining and shifting your behaviors as appropriate.
• Uplifting and additive. You see mistakes as opportunities for growth; problems as catalysts for solutions, and inspire others along the journey. You carry a constructive approach, can-do attitude, a sense of humor, and authentic kindness wherever you go.