Associate Attorney

About The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society (TWS) is the leading conservation organization working to protect America’s wild places and public lands for the health of local communities, wildlife, and climate. Founded in 1935, and now with more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 111 million acres of wilderness and to ensure the sound management of America’s public lands. TWS is scaling up its work to address the existential threat of climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and deep inequities with access to the benefits of nature. TWS is working to achieve four major collective impact results: protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030, transitioning off of fossil fuel development on public lands to well-sited renewable energy, securing equitable access to public lands and their benefits, and building a critical mass of support for conservation of public lands.

The Wilderness Society recognizes the historic and ongoing injustices perpetrated against Indigenous peoples, particularly those perpetrated by traditional conservation organizations and is committed to being more conscientious and inclusive in our work. This includes working directly with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities to support conservation outcomes that respect the priorities and concerns of Tribes to ensure a more just and equitable future.

General Description

The Associate Attorney will support The Wilderness Society’s (TWS’s) priorities related to public lands conservation and climate change. The Associate Attorney will support The Wilderness Society’s (TWS’s) priorities related to public lands conservation and climate change. The Associate Attorney will serve as an integral member of the Legal Team in the Federal Policy Department, assisting in administrative record building, government agency decision-making processes, and policy interpretation and advocacy. The position will also assist in managing litigation from an in-house counsel role by conducting research, supporting case management, and providing legal expertise to various campaigns and cross-functional teams. This is a valuable entry-level position with potential growth opportunities at a leading public lands conservation organization.

This position plays an important role in supporting an inclusive organizational culture that is grounded in trust and accountability to shared goals and outcomes. TWS has made diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic priorities for the organization, and the Associate Attorney will integrate these priorities throughout our legal work. Across our team, we aspire to be campaign oriented, nimble, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset.

(Note: TWS does not represent itself in court but actively supports and partners with the attorneys who represent us in litigation.)

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide legal, policy, and land use planning support to help realize TWS’s strategic priorities, including protecting national public lands, reducing greenhouse gas emissions stemming from energy development on public lands, and elevating the needs of local communities in relation to public lands.
• Conduct legal research and draft legal memoranda to inform litigation strategies, policy development and defense, and other Federal Policy Department efforts, with a focus on key environmental and public land laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, National Forest Management Act, and Mineral Leasing Act.
• Track and engage in federal onshore oil and gas lease sales and permitting processes.
• Assist in developing and drafting technical comments as part of federal agency policy, planning, leasing, or project-level decision-making processes, along with white papers, fact sheets, press releases, and briefings.
• Provide expertise in law and policy to TWS staff and other conservation organizations to advance TWS priorities.
• Work collaboratively with a broad cross section of TWS staff and external partners, and participate in coalitions and campaigns as appropriate, including working with communities, Tribes, and grassroots organizations.
• Stay current on public land and related case law.
• Help ensure that TWS legal defense and litigation efforts center equity, inclusion, and affected communities.
• Assist TWS communications staff to ensure legally accurate public messaging and communications for priority issues.
• Co-manage TWS law clerk program, including recruitment, onboarding, supervision, project management, feedback, and mentoring.
• Perform other related duties as needed.

Qualifications

• Law degree and bar admission required.
• Minimum of 1 year of legal work experience.
• Excellent analytical, legal research, and legal writing skills.
• Exceptional at verbal and written communication.
• Basic understanding of administrative law, as well as an interest in learning about and developing expertise in public land law, policies, and issues.
• Track record working successfully in teams representing a rich mix of talent, backgrounds, and perspectives – across race and gender.
• Ability to identify legal and policy issues in reviewing federal agency proposals and actions.
• Organized, accurate, and detail oriented.
• Ability to work well independently and as part of diverse teams, and able to keep a level head when responding to rapid changes in campaign strategies and plans.
• Passion for public interest, social and environmental justice, and effecting positive change; and eagerness to learn about, develop, and implement legal tools for combating climate change, protecting public lands, and centering justice and equity in conservation.
• Interest in working collaboratively and inclusively on cross-functional teams and multi-disciplinary campaigns.
• Willingness to travel for short durations.

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of this position, and it is not intended to be an exhaustive list of experience, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities, or working conditions associated with the position.

The starting salary range for this position is $70,000-$75,000 depending on location. The preferred location for this role is Washington, DC. Other TWS locations and remote locations may be considered.

As an organization, we aspire to being inclusive in the work that we do, and in the kind of organization we are. Internally this means working as a team that listens to different points of view, recognizes the contributions of every employee and empowers each employee to bring their whole selves to work every day. Externally this means ensuring that public lands are inclusive and welcoming, so that our shared wildlands can help people and nature to thrive. We are committed to equity throughout our work, which we define as our commitment to realizing the promise of our public lands and ensuring that all can share in their universal benefits.