New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), a community-driven civil rights organization, seeks a Senior Staff Attorney to join our Environmental Justice Program.
Through our Environmental Justice work, NYLPI fights against the unfair burdens of environmental hazards borne by low-income communities and communities of color – and strives for a more equitable and sustainable New York. In partnership with community-based organizations, advocacy groups and pro bono law firms, we build coalitions, devise and execute campaigns, bring cutting-edge litigation, and shape policy. We are creative and determined in our legal, policy, and community work. Having successfully fought for the enactment of New York State’s Environmental Rights Amendment, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and critical local laws addressing systemic environmental harms, we are now dedicated to full implementation through litigation, regulation, and other advocacy.
The Environmental Justice team works on priorities identified by our frontline community partners. Current campaigns and cases include:
- Litigation against the State to compel full and timely implementation of New York’s landmark Climate Law;
- Advocacy to reform the State's transportation agency's practices on multiple highway expansions impacting frontline communities and neighborhoods;
- Working to close fossil fuel “peaker” plants, replacing them with renewable energy resources;
- Fighting for accessible and equitable funding for low-income homeowners and communities who suffer from sewage backups during increasingly frequent storms;
- Multi-pronged advocacy for a safer and more equitable commercial waste transfer sector; and
- Ensuring the implementation of City and State building decarbonization laws.
We maximize our impact by working in coalitions and partnerships with other nonprofit organizations and by co-counseling litigation with private law firms and other nonprofits.
About the Role
The Senior Staff Attorney will take on existing environmental justice advocacy and will be responsible for developing new litigation, legal advocacy, and legislative campaigns. They will litigate complex environmental justice and civil rights cases in state and federal court and represent clients during the regulatory process. The Attorney will also engage in administrative and policy advocacy. Approximately 20% of this role will consist of coalition-building, media work, and community organizing and outreach.
Working closely with the EJ Program Director, the Attorney will formulate key legal, litigation, and policy strategies in close partnership and collaboration with program staff, leading EJ community partners, and NYLPI’s Program Directors. The Attorney may also work with other NYLPI attorneys and staff on issues intersecting with NYLPI’s Disability Justice and Health Justice programs. The Attorney will represent NYLPI externally to establish and maintain key relationships with a broad range of decision-makers and stakeholders. The Senior Staff Attorney may supervise staff attorneys, fellows, or interns in the EJ program as necessary.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Substantial legal and/or litigation experience in the areas of environmental or environmental justice law;
- Experience with administrative, renewable energy, land use, and/or non-profit law;
- Experience with local, state and/or federal environmental agency rules and regulations;
- Excellent writing, analytic, and public speaking skills;
- Sound and strategic judgment and drive to effectuate campaigns and priorities;
- Demonstrated excellence in relationship and time management;
- Commitment to community-centered environmental and racial justice lawyering; and
- Attorney in good standing, licensed to practice law in the State of New York or eligible for admission to the New York Bar at the time of hiring.
Preferred
- Five to nine years of relevant legal experience;
- Experience or familiarity with the work of New York state agencies including the Departments of Public Service, Environmental Conservation and/or Transportation, and New York City’s environmental or environmental justice agencies;
- Ability to relate to and work in meaningful collaboration with a diverse group of clients, community partners, and colleagues, as well as nonprofit, government, judicial, and business communities;
- Supervisory experience; and
- Community-building experience, including work with community organizers and grassroots organizations.
About NYLPI
For almost 50 years, NYLPI has been a leading civil rights advocate for New Yorkers marginalized by race, immigration status, poverty, neighborhood pollution, and disabilities. NYLPI pioneered the practice of community lawyering in the five boroughs of New York City. These communities shape our priorities, and their struggles for justice demand innovative solutions. Our interdisciplinary teams of advocates use every tool available – community organizing, impact litigation and individual representation, policy advocacy, media, pro bono partnerships, and public education – to solve seemingly intractable problems, develop leaders, and build collective power to achieve justice. We strive to create equal access to health care, achieve equality of opportunity and self-determination for people with disabilities, ensure immigrant opportunity, strengthen local nonprofits, and secure environmental justice for low-income communities of color. Our unique model of partnership with and support from the private bar provides opportunities across all of our program areas to maximize impact. To learn more about NYLPI, visit www.nylpi.org.
