Associate Attorney, Northwest Regional Office

National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Earthjustice’s Northwest Office in Seattle is seeking an Associate Attorney to help develop into a thoughtful advocate across public interest litigation. The role supports senior staff and interns, with a focus on environmental and community groups in the Pacific Northwest, and occasionally national matters.

This is a hybrid position (2–3 days in office) in downtown Seattle, offering exposure to federal and state litigation, extensive research, drafting, and client collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Conduct legal and factual research and prepare memoranda on issues related to ongoing or potential new cases.
• Review and analyze administrative records and technical documents.
• Draft motions, briefs, and other legal documents in support of litigation.
• Participate in proceedings before federal and state courts and agencies.
• Work with clients and experts and learn how to handle press work.
• Hire and supervise law students who work as interns or clerks.

Job description

Position Description

The Northwest Office of Earthjustice seeks an Associate Attorney to join our team. We opened our office in Seattle in 1987 to enable Earthjustice to take a more active role in preserving the unique natural resources, wildlife, and communities in the Pacific Northwest. Since that time, the Northwest office has undertaken campaigns to protect old growth forests, promote salmon recovery and habitat protection, protect Puget Sound and the Salish Sea and the communities that depend on them, prevent the Pacific Northwest from becoming a fossil fuel export hub, and promote a just transition to a clean energy future, among other things. We continue to expand our climate and clean energy work and our partnerships with environmental justice communities in the Seattle and Portland areas. We frequently work in close partnership with Native American Tribes and fence-line communities.

Earthjustice is the nation’s leading environmental law organization. Wielding the power of law, Earthjustice partners with our clients to take on the most critical fights of our time — fights to protect the incredible biodiversity and wild places of the planet; to avert climate disaster by transitioning society away from fossil fuels toward clean energy; to safeguard the right of all people to a healthy environment. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

Founded in 1971, Earthjustice has a distinguished track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections. We achieve this by hiring people who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment. Our headquarters are in San Francisco with offices in Anchorage, Bozeman, Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Juneau, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Seattle, Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.

The Associate Attorney position is a three-year position with the potential for extension, designed to help attorneys who are in the early stages of their careers to develop into thoughtful, professional, and effective advocates skilled in the various phases of public interest litigation. As Associate Attorneys gain experience, they gradually take on more independent responsibility for their cases but work throughout their tenure under the supervision of Senior Attorneys, Deputy Managing Attorneys, or the Managing Attorney. Many Associates have gone on to other positions within Earthjustice and with other public interest organizations.

Although the primary focus of the Northwest office is representing environmental and community groups in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and northern California, we often take cases with national scope. For example, the Northwest office leads nationwide litigation focused on compelling full and transparent environmental reviews for projects that harm environmental health and communities, ensuring protection of threatened and endangered species, and banning dangerous pesticides, like chlorpyrifos. We have a track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections, and we achieve this by hiring people who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment. Sound like you?

This is a hybrid (2-3 days per week in office) position based in our Seattle office and requires regular in-person attendance. Our office is located in the heart of downtown Seattle near the federal and state courthouses and the waterfront. Our goal is to produce the highest quality legal work in a diverse, inclusive, supportive, and collegial environment.

Responsibilities

• Conducting legal and factual research and preparing memoranda on issues related to ongoing or potential new cases.
• Reviewing and analyzing administrative records and technical documents.
• Drafting motions, briefs, and other legal and factual documents in support of litigation.
• Participating in proceedings before federal and state courts and agencies.
• Working with clients and experts and learning how to handle press work.
• Hiring and supervising law students who work at Earthjustice as interns or clerks.