POSITION TITLE: Senior Attorney (12-month fixed-term contract)

PROGRAM: Climate & Energy

FOCUS AREA: Climate Litigation and Accountability

SUPERVISOR: Climate & Energy Program Director

LOCATION: Geneva, Switzerland or Remote, USA

SALARY RANGE: $94,000-$114,000/yr

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION:

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) uses the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society. CIEL’s Climate and Energy (C&E) Program advances innovative legal strategies to protect human rights and the planet from both the drivers of and the responses to climate change; to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and shift public and private finance by highlighting the risks of fossil fuel investments and holding State and corporate actors accountable for their role in the climate crisis; and to center human rights in solutions to the climate crisis.

CIEL seeks a Senior Attorney to support the C&E Program’s climate litigation and accountability work over the next 12 months. Among their primary areas of focus, the Senior Attorney will assist CIEL in legal research, analysis, drafting, and advocacy in support of advisory opinions on climate change that have been requested from several international tribunals – the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).  The Senior Attorney will also provide assistance to other aspects of the Program’s climate litigation and accountability work.

The ideal candidate will have expertise in the field of international law, including the law of state responsibility, and robust knowledge of international environmental law, international human rights law, and the jurisprudence of the ICJ. Experience with litigation, demonstrated command of the drivers and impacts of the climate crisis, and familiarity with one or more relevant areas of law, including human rights, tort, and criminal liability regimes in common law systems, is required. The Senior Attorney will also have impeccable research and writing skills in English. Responsibilities include: performing legal research and analysis; helping to develop legal and advocacy strategies; working in civil society coalitions; and drafting legal memoranda and filings, communications materials, and other documents. The Senior Attorney will preferably be based in Washington, DC, but we will consider exceptional candidates seeking to work remotely in the USA or in Geneva, Switzerland. This is a fixed-term (12-month), full-time, exempt position that reports to the Climate & Energy Program Director. The position may require some travel.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Programmatic Responsibilities:

• Strategy development and implementation
  • Innovate and implement legal strategies and campaigns to advance the objective of securing strong advisory opinions on the legal obligations of States in the face of the climate emergency and responsibility for climate-related harm
  • Keep abreast of ongoing advances related to the advisory opinion processes, jurisprudence of the tribunals concerned, and in the climate litigation space, more generally
• Legal research and writing
  • Research and draft legal analyses, memoranda, amicus briefs, and other relevant legal strategy documents
  • As requested or assigned by the Program Director, review and edit colleagues’ and partners’ documents
• Partnerships and communication
  • Organize, coordinate, and participate in meetings and events to support program goals
  • Assist in the design and implementation of strategies to inform, engage, and mobilize target constituencies in support of campaign goals
  • Assist in the development of press releases, online communication materials, webinars, and other informational materials
  • Maintain effective working relationships with relevant partner organizations, communities, intergovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders
  • Represent CIEL in coalitions, public meetings, workshops, and other processes
• Teamwork and internal collaboration
  • Assist in information flow within the program and other CIEL programs
  • Perform other job-related duties as requested or assigned by the Program Director

Administrative Responsibilities:

• Assist program team and other staff responsible for grant-writing and reporting by sharing information on program activities, deliverables, and expenditures, as needed
• Meet deadlines, prioritize tasks, and ensure high-quality work product
• Meet periodically as requested, with supervisor and other team members
• Participate in weekly staff and team meetings and other organizational activities, including performance evaluations and monthly timesheets.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum Qualifications:

• JD or equivalent law degree with a focus on international law, the law of state responsibility, climate change law, and/or international environmental law and policy
• 5-7 years experience practicing public international law, including some litigation experience in administrative, civil trial, or appellate litigation (up to two years of this experience may include post-JD clerkships)
• Superior legal analytical, writing, and communication skills and a demonstrated ability to write clearly and compellingly for a variety of audiences, including policymakers and the general public
• Demonstrated experience working with coalitions and a diverse range of people and groups
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Ability to work both independently and in close coordination with a team
• Fluency in the English language.

Desired Qualifications:

• Knowledge of human rights law, comparative constitutional law, tort, criminal law, finance, criminal liability regimes in common law systems, or other areas relevant to climate law
• Communications experience, for example giving interviews, creating talking points, and blogging
• Ability to operate comfortably in a relaxed, informal work environment
• Proficiency in French or Spanish

This is a fixed-term (12-month), full-time, exempt position.

Application instructions: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis; the first application review will take place on July 17, 2023. Desired start date: As soon as able. Please submit a cover letter, resume, and any other required materials or responses. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted. No telephone calls, please. Note that CIEL does not sponsor visas of any kind. You must have prior authorization to work in the United States or Switzerland in order to be considered for this position.

Anonymous Demographic Survey: Please complete this anonymous demographic survey as part of your application to CIEL. The survey will only be used to help us evaluate our efforts to recruit a diverse pool of candidates. Your answers will not in any way be linked to your application, and the answers to the survey will not be handled by anyone on the hiring committee for the role.

About CIEL: For 30 years, CIEL has used the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society. CIEL’s dynamic team of international attorneys and experts work together in a collaborative and supportive work environment to tackle some of the most interesting and challenging issues facing people and the planet.