Law Clerkship, Summer 2021

Earthjustice is seeking summer law clerks who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment.

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization.  We take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country.  We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy; and to combat climate change.  We partner with thousands of groups and supporters to engage the critical environmental issues of our time, and bring about positive change.  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 those who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment.  Our headquarters are in San Francisco with fifteen offices across the U.S.

Earthjustice’s work is currently divided into three major areas:

• The Wild focuses on cases that protect endangered species, national forests, national parks, other public lands, water resources, and the oceans.
• Healthy Communities focuses on cases that protect public health, in particular clean air and water, toxic chemicals, and mercury. Recently, this work has also focused on food and agriculture, and the rights of farm workers.
• Climate and Energy focuses on cases that encourage clean energy and energy efficiency while challenging the reliance on coal, oil and other dirty fuels.

Summer law clerks work with attorneys on case development and litigation. Under the supervision of an attorney, a law clerk’s primary responsibilities are to perform legal and factual research, and to develop case strategy and legal theories. Law clerks may also have the opportunity to assist attorneys with preparing briefs and motions, to meet with clients and experts, to participate in moots of oral arguments, and to attend court proceedings and conferences with opposing counsel. In addition to involvement in ongoing litigation, the summer program includes seminars with attorneys from across the organization on current environmental issues.

The Earthjustice Summer Clerkship position includes a weekly stipend of $1,120 a week, with the average clerkship lasting 10 weeks (approximately $11,200 total). The total stipend amount will be dependent on the extent of a clerk’s ability to secure outside funding. Earthjustice will pay $1,120 a week less the total amount received from other sources. We strongly encourage candidates to pursue outside funding, but the ability to secure outside funding will not be considered as part of the hiring decision.

Earthjustice has 15 regional offices:

• Alaska - Anchorage and Juneau
• California - San Francisco and Los Angeles
• Coal Program – Philadelphia and Chicago
• Community Partnerships Program – Los Angeles
• Florida - Tallahassee and Miami
• Fossil Fuels Program – New Orleans
• International - San Francisco
• Mid-Pacific - Honolulu
• Midwest - Chicago
• Northeast - New York
• Northern Rockies - Bozeman
• Northwest - Seattle
• Oceans Program - Seattle and San Francisco
• Rocky Mountain - Denver
• Tribal Partnerships Program – Seattle and Denver
• Washington, D.C.

Each of these offices accepts applications for summer law clerks, and students should submit an application to each office of interest. 

TO APPLY

Law students who have a minimum of ten weeks to commit in the summer are eligible to apply.  Interested applicants should submit their:

• Cover letter. The best cover letters are one page and address why the applicant wants to work for Earthjustice, and provide information about the applicant that is not apparent or fully explained in the resume.
• Resume
• Recent writing sample, preferably a legal brief or memorandum of no more than ten pages that primarily reflects your work.
• Unofficial transcript
• List of three references

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please note that each office handles applications individually, so you will need to submit an application for each office that interests you. Identical applications for each office are fine, but a sentence or two in your cover letter on why you're interested in each office is preferred.

If you’re having technical difficulties submitting your application, please reach out to jobs@earthjustice.org

No phone calls, drop-ins, or hard copies.