Post-Grad Law Fellowship, Coal Program

Washington DC or Philadelphia PAEarthjustice’s Coal Program, which uses litigation and advocacy to challenge the coal industry’s harmful impacts on people and the environment and to speed our nation’s transition to clean energy, is now accepting applications for candidates interested in seeking post-graduate legal fellowships funded through a law school or other sources to commence in the fall of 2016.

Our Work: The fellowship attorney will work closely with experienced Earthjustice attorneys in challenging our nation’s reliance on aging coal-fired power plants, and to speed the transition to clean energy resources. Our docket includes litigation and legal advocacy in three primary areas. First, we work to require the promulgation of stringent environmental standards to reduce pollution from coal plants, and to defend those standards from industry lawsuits. Second, we bring permitting and enforcement actions to ensure that our nation’s environmental standards are faithfully implemented, and that coal plants comply with those standards. Third, we litigate in state public utility commissions to halt proposed investments in aging and uneconomic coal plants and to shift such investments to clean energy resources. The Fellow will work closely with staff attorneys and clients to develop and implement litigation and advocacy strategies, and will participate in the full range of tasks involved, such as factual investigation, legal research, discovery, briefing, witness preparation, and oral advocacy.

Who We Are Looking For: Earthjustice seeks highly qualified candidates who possess outstanding legal research and writing skills and are interested in working as a fellow for at least one year. Our preferred location is our Philadelphia office, though we will also consider applications for our Washington D.C. office. Applicants should be third-year law students, judicial clerks, or other recent law school graduates who are eligible for post-graduate fellowships. Applicants should have a strong academic record, strong work ethic and sense of initiative, sound and creative judgment, and an ability to work well in a collegial setting.

Funding: If offered a fellowship at Earthjustice, candidates are responsible for securing their own funding. Earthjustice may provide resources for a fellow’s expenses, but is unable to provide compensation. There are different sources of fellowship funding that candidates can pursue, such as those available through your law school, or third parties such as law firms, Equal Justice Works or Skadden. Candidates should identify potential sources of funding before applying but do not need to have secured such funding at the time of their application. Please note, however, that deadlines for applying for third-party funding vary based on source.

To Apply

Interested applicants should submit their:

Cover Letter. If your fellowship will necessitate identifying a specific project proposal, please note in your cover letter if you have an idea for a possible fellowship proposal (optional to include a short description, no longer than 1 page), and/or if you are interested in developing a project jointly with Earthjustice.

Resume

Writing Sample, preferably a legal brief or memorandum

Law school transcript

List of three references

http://earthjustice.org/about/jobs/33681/post-grad-law-fellowship-coal-program

Please, no telephone calls, faxes, or hard copies.