Senior Staff Attorney, Beyond Coal Campaign

~ Founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is now the nation's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization -- with three million members and supporters. ~

Our successes range from protecting millions of acres of wilderness to helping pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. More recently, we've made history by leading the charge to move away from the dirty fossil fuels that cause climate disruption and toward a clean energy economy. 

Not only is coal burning responsible for one third of US carbon emissions—the main contributor to climate disruption—but it is also making us sick, leading to as many as 13,000 premature deaths every year and more than $100 billion in annual health costs.

The Beyond Coal campaign’s main objective is to replace dirty coal with clean energy by mobilizing grassroots activists in local communities to advocate for the retirement of old and outdated coal plants and to prevent new coal plants from being built.

Our goals include:

• Retiring one-third of the nation’s more than 500 coal plants by 2020
• Replacing the majority of retired coal plants with clean energy solutions such as wind, solar, and geothermal
• Keeping coal in the ground in places like Appalachia and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin

Position Overview

Context: As part of national Club legal team, the Staff Attorney litigates environmental cases related to the Beyond Coal campaign;  implements strategic legal campaigns; builds the in‑house litigation component of the Law Program; and coordinates all aspects of the Sierra Club’s legal work.

Scope: The Senior Attorney litigates key Sierra Club cases, implements national strategic litigation campaigns, and builds the Sierra Club's in‑house litigation component of its Law Program.  As part of a senior member of a team of attorneys, the Senior Attorney is responsible for undertaking or overseeing in‑house legal duties, including evaluation and supervision of the Club’s litigation docket, strategic planning with a range of Sierra Club leaders, fundraising, media work, and general supervision of the Law Program. The position involves daily contact with Sierra Club volunteer activists, staff, and attorneys throughout the nation. 

• Department: Conservation ‑ Washington, DC
• Reports To: Managing Attorney

Responsibilities

Job Activities:

• Prosecutes key Club lawsuits, under the supervision of a managing attorney; assumes  litigation responsibilities including discovery management, witness handling, principal brief writing, trials and oral argument.
• Implements strategic, programmatic legal campaigns to support the Club’s Beyond Coal and other campaigns objectives; helps coordinate and supervise the litigation work of strategic legal campaigns; assumes primary responsibility for relationships with staff and volunteer leaders.
• Helps evaluate proposed litigation to advise national volunteer and staff leadership on the scope of Sierra Club participation in legal actions.
• Helps supervise and administer ongoing Club litigation so that Club can properly maintain and coordinate its climate- related docket; assumes primary responsibility for trouble shooting individual lawsuits.
• Develops and plans programmatic litigation campaigns to support the Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign objectives; assumes primary role in drafting legal components of strategic plans and reports.
• Analyzes legal cases and trends for Club management and membership.
• Serves as legal resource for Club membership; helps chapters and groups with their local energy related legal programs and objectives.
• Helps fundraise for the Environmental Law Program; establishes and cultivates individual donor relationships.
• Develops training, informational, educational, and fundraising materials for Environmental Law Program.
• Performs miscellaneous duties as directed.

Qualifications

Knowledge & Skills:

• J.D. degree and license to practice law, with 4 or more years of experience in the environmental or energy law fields.            
• Excellent writing and analytic skills.
• Strong interpersonal and consensus‑building skills.
• Strong planning and management skills.
• Solid knowledge base of energy law or environmental law.

Compensation: The Sierra Club offers competitive salary package commensurate with skills and experience plus excellent benefits that include medical, dental, and vision coverage, and a retirement savings 401(k) plan. This is a category 3 exempt position.

Note: Sierra Club is a 501(c)(4) organization. Sierra Club does not sponsor H1B visas.

~ The Sierra Club is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse workforce. ~