Author: Bruce Huber

Job and Fellowship opportunities at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School

There are several opportunities now open at the Sabin Center which could be of interest to current students and recent graduates. Information on all of the below are available here.

1. There is an ongoing search for the Sabin Center’s next ClimateLawFellow. This is an early-career, one-year fellowship with an option for a second year, beginning in September 2025.  

2. Another search is for an early-career attorney to work on the Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI). This person will work with Mike Gerrard and Matt Eisenson, among others, to provide thought leadership, applied research, peer learning, and other outputs that will assist advocates and researchers seeking to strategically engage with the planning for and siting of utility- and community scale renewable energy facilities and related infrastructure. This position is open now and available until filled.

All positions are based in New York City, and require consistent with university policy, presence in the office three days/week.

ELAW Internship Opportunity

ELAW is an international NGO registered in Oregon that supports a network of public interest environmental lawyers and scientists who use the law to protect the environment and human rights. ELAW provides legal and scientific resources to grassroots advocates in approximately 80 countries. Law Interns assist the ELAW attorneys in responding to requests for collaboration. These requests generate both short and long-term assignments on a wide range of legal topics, including climate change, human rights, plastic pollution, natural resource extraction, and marine protection. Interns typically conduct legal research, write memos, assist with drafting briefs or other legal analyses, and help identify strong or innovative laws and regulations. ELAW attorneys work with Interns and oversee all projects.

The internship is full-time (40 hours/week) for approximately 10 weeks between late May and September. Candidates should indicate whether they prefer to work from the office in Eugene, Oregon or remotely. ELAW encourages successful applicants to secure funding from scholarships or their law schools, but such funding is not a factor in selecting final candidates. ELAW will supplement outside funding to ensure Interns receive $6,600 for the 10-week internship.

We welcome applications from current second-year (2L) and LLM students. Successful applicants generally possess excellent research and writing skills and a strong dedication to public interest environmental law. Proficiency in a language or languages other than English is preferred, but not required. ELAW actively seeks applicants with diverse backgrounds.

To apply for a summer legal internship, please submit a cover letter (a one page document that communicates your interest in ELAW and provides additional information about skills and experiences relevant to this position), resume, and writing sample (less than 10 pages) at https://elaw.bamboohr.com/careers. Please include all documents in the same file in this order: cover letter, resume, writing sample.

Applications must be submitted by October 4, 2024.

Wildfire Policy Legal Fellow, Stanford Law School

The Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP) of Stanford Law School and the Climate and Energy Policy Program (CEPP) of Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment invite applications for a Wildfire Policy Legal Fellow.  The Fellow will join the thriving community in the Stanford Law School, reporting to the ENRLP Director, and will work primarily with the leaders of CEPP at the Woods Institute within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

This full-time fellowship is crafted for early-career attorneys with a strong interest in wildfire policy design and implementation and the important interactions with decarbonization and climate resilience policy.  It offers a hands-on opportunity to apply your legal skills and expertise to address urgent and intensifying wildfire policy challenges in California and the western US. This work will build on and deepen partnerships with policy stakeholders and Stanford’s long track record of engagement on wildfire policy in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

The Fellow will lead legal and policy analysis to support constructive solutions to (1) Particulate Matter (PM) management reform under the Clean Air Act, (2) the development of a quantitative planning process for wildfire risk reduction in California, transforming the current suppression-oriented wildfire management approach towards a focus on protecting public health through quantified risk reduction, and (3) managing the electricity rate impacts of wildfire-related grid investments. The fellow will play a key role in a team including data scientists, additional lawyers, and experts in developing policy solutions.

https://careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/wildfire-policy-legal-fellow-stanford-law-school-26508

Haub National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition

Registration for NELMCC 2025 is officially open through October 1, 2024.

  • Registration is limited to the first 51 teams. One Team per school.
  • Deadline to register is October 1 or until full.
  • Each team must complete the online individual team member name registration form by October 26, 2024.
  • The nonrefundable registration fee is $1,195 payable online by credit card or check payment.
  • NELMCC office will notify team contact with Team Number when school is officially registered.
  • The Problem will be distributed by email on or about October 3, 2024 to 1 Team Contact provided on the registration form.
  • Late registrations will be considered if space allows.

Fellowship Opportunity with Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities

This is a fellowship opportunity with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) funded by the NYU School of Law Energy and Environmental Impact Center. The work of the DPU takes place in a rapidly evolving energy landscape, with an emphasis on mitigating and adapting to climate change, while maintaining reliable, safe, and affordable energy supplies. The Legal Fellow will be part of a collaborative 10-person team that investigates distributed generation-related projects and proceedings before the DPU.  

The fellowship sponsors law school graduates from across the country to work full-time for 2 years at Public Utility Commissions across the country to advance power system resilience and accelerate affordable clean energy opportunities. Here is a link to the job description with details on how to apply: https://stateimpactcenter.org/about/fellows-program/apply-to-be-a-state-commission-fellow 

If applicants have any questions or if they would like to discuss this opportunity further, they can reach out to Jessica Bell (jessica.bell@nyu.edu).  

Owners’ Counsel of America

Owners Counsel of America, Inc. (OCA) is a non-profit association of attorneys who primarily represent property owners facing eminent domain. The mission of the organization is to advance the cause of property rights.  Members typically have substantial land use and trial experience.  

Toby Brigham founded OCA in 2000, and when he passed away, a scholarship was created in his honor to fund a 2L or 3L law student to attend the annual national ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Seminar and related OCA events.  Students have found the networking opportunity useful in obtaining positions post law school, and members have enjoyed introducing students to this field of law.

The application for a scholarship for next year’s conference, to be held in San Diego Jan 30-Feb 1, 2025, is now open.  Here is a link to the application.  Applications are due October 1, 2024.  Decisions are made by our Scholarship Committee.  Information on past recipients can be found here on our website.

Opportunity in marine conservation

The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation strives to be a highly impactful organization that fulfills its mission with integrity and empathy.

Job title: Senior Program Officer, Conservation

In this position, as the Senior Program Officer, Conservation you will be charged with developing and implementing a major new grant portfolio to deliver funding to increase legal capacity to support the delivery of marine conservation. It offers an intellectually stimulating environment and the chance to contribute to far-reaching geographical and temporal impacts. This is truly a once-in-a-career opportunity to be on the ground floor of significant conservation initiatives, helping deliver a healthy global ocean teeming with life, and fostering resilience to climate change. This a remote/hybrid opportunity with team meetings from a location in or near Washington, DC. Evening and weekend work are occasionally required. Travel in the US (Chicago headquarters) approximately once a month for several days. Regular international travel. The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation has retained ThinkingAhead Executive Search’s Nonprofit Division to serve as our recruiting partner.

See: https://pmangellfamfound.org/employment-opportunities/

To learn more: https://thinkingahead.com/job/373452/