JOB PURPOSE:

This position is a great opportunity for a lawyer who wants to put their professional expertise at the service of the environment and the climate. As a Clean Air Lawyer, you will be an integral member of the Clean Air, Water and Soil subgroup and play an important role in delivering ClientEarth’s work to protect people’s right to breathe clean air. This role will focus mainly on using EU air quality laws to protect human health, the environment and the climate. This will involve both implementation and enforcement of existing EU clean air and vehicle emissions rules, together with work on the development of new EU air quality law and policies. The role will also involve working with the team to pursue litigation strategies to protect the right to clean air as a human right. The successful candidate will be required to analyse the relevant legal, policy, and political terrain and identify opportunities for developing and implementing strategic legal interventions to uphold the right to clean air in EU member states. There will be a strong emphasis on working with partner NGOs and driving strategic legal interventions (e.g. court cases and complaints) to tackle air pollution at national and EU levels. The Lawyer will also support legal interventions to address the legacy of the Dieselgate scandal and the systemic lack of transparency in the EU regarding emissions from vehicles.

The successful candidate’s final title will be agreed prior to a formal offer, and will depend on their professional qualifications and the applicable regulated titled allowed to be used in the relevant jurisdiction.

THE THRIVING PLANET LEGAL GROUP:

The lawyer will be part of the Thriving Planet Legal Group, a global group of lawyers working across multiple jurisdictions with the objective to advance environmental law. The Thriving Legal Group is composed of four subgroups – Emissions Reduction, Protected Wildlife & Habitats, Marine & Mediterranean, Protected Wildlife & Habitats, Clean Air, Water & Soil – each one managed by a Lead lawyer. The topics covered by the Thriving Planet Legal group include, among others, water laws, air quality laws, habitats laws, industrial emissions, infrastructure planning and permitting, energy markets regulation, climate plans and laws.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

The position sits within the Clean Air, Water & Soil subgroup and reports to the Lead of legal sub-group, Nieves Noval (based in Madrid). You will also have key relationships with lawyers from other Legal Groups within ClientEarth as well as with transports and materials system, external affairs and communications staff. You will also cooperate closely with external partners and counsels.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Research and evaluate the potential for using litigation and/or other legal interventions to ensure compliance with the EU air quality legal framework, including sectoral regulations related to vehicle emissions;


• Research and support development of innovative policy and legal strategies to ensure the right to clean and healthy air as a fundamental human right;


• Evaluate the risks of legal interventions to ClientEarth and other potential litigants, as well as the potential strategic benefits to ClientEarth’s clean air and climate mitigation objectives;


• Prepare high quality written work as part of legal interventions and policy advocacy, for example assisting with the drafting of complaints or pleadings, as well as briefings tailored to communicate our thinking to a wide variety of legal, policy, political, and civil society audiences;


• Monitor, scrutinise and critically analyse relevant developments, such as new case law, policy announcements, legislative developments and stakeholder consultations – these could be EU or Member State level – and propose strategic responses;


• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with key partners, including other NGOs, lawyers, science and policy experts, and politicians;


• Participate effectively in meetings and workshops with relevant stakeholders at EU and national level, such as politicians, government advisers and NGOs, to promote ClientEarth’s thinking and analysis in external forums, including by making presentations regarding our work;


• Work with the communications team to support efforts to raise public awareness about relevant issues through, for example, social media, website communications or press releases;


• Contribute consistently and meaningfully to team’s monitoring, evaluation and learning activities to support a culture of continuous learning and innovation within ClientEarth.

LOCATION:

• This role will be based in our Brussels, Madrid or Berlin office. The position may involve occasional travel within Europe, in line with our environmental policy.

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

Education and training

• Degree in law, or equivalent (essential);


• A professional legal practice qualification (desirable).

Experience and knowledge

• Professional experience in law (preferably in an EU Member State or at EU level) and of contributing to strategic legal thinking and creative problem solving (essential);


• Experience of working on building and/or defending cases for litigation (essential), as well as direct experience with court pleadings (desirable);


• A good understanding of broader EU environmental law and of the EU clean air legal framework and sectoral EU rules on emissions of pollutants in the automotive sector (essential);


• A good understanding of the political, institutional and policy landscape relevant to air quality, climate and transport at EU level (desirable);


• A good understanding of the principles and rules for access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters (desirable);


• Experience of working with civil society organisations (desirable);


• A good understanding of EU political and legislative processes (desirable).

Key Competencies

• Fluent in English (CEFR level C2) (essential);


• Fluent (CEFR level C2) in another European language (with a preference for German, Spanish or Dutch) (desirable);


• Excellent writing and editing skills (essential);


• An entrepreneurial approach to the law – ability to spot opportunities, unafraid to pursue innovative legal approaches and interpretations (essential);


• Strong legal research and analytical skills and an interest in performing rigorous legal analysis (essential);


• Excellent critical and lateral thinking, and analytical skills (essential);


• Confidence working with and assimilating complex technical, scientific, political and legal material and the ability to grasp new concepts quickly (essential);


• Ability to work well under pressure, with good project management skills, including responding positively towards shifting circumstances and competing timelines, and capable of setting priorities in area of responsibility (essential);


• Ability to execute work independently and take the initiative when required, including breaking complex strategies into defined, outcome-oriented activities (essential);


• Excellent interpersonal and team working skills, with the ability to foster positive and collaborative working relationships with diverse internal and external individuals (essential), and to project manage others, such as external lawyers and technical advisers (desirable);


• Excellent written and oral communication skills to give authoritative advice and influence external audiences, including the ability to adapt language, content and style to make communications on legal and ecological issues accessible to various non-expert audiences (essential);


• Comfortable with remote or matrix management and working in a global organisation (essential);


• Strong alignment with ClientEarth’s values and commitment to our vision, and mission and equity, diversity and inclusion strategy objectives (essential).

Note to candidates: We know that long lists of criteria can be daunting and that some candidates will not apply for a role unless they feel they are 100% qualified. If you feel you meet at least some of the essential criteria, we still encourage you to apply.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Have a question about this job? Please visit our Careers site for advice on applying, FAQs, and more.

Flexible working:  We are proud to be a Flexa accredited Employer. Visit our Flexa Employer page for more information on our approach to flexible working. Our flexible working policy allows our people the choice to decide to work from home/another location in the country where their contract of employment is issued for 80% of their month, with the other 20% of their month being office-based  See our Benefits page for more.

ClientEarth values diversity and inclusion and the benefits this brings. We aim to appoint the most suitable candidate at all times and welcome applications from people from all different backgrounds.

Please note that ClientEarth is only able to employ those who have the pre-existing legal right to work in Belgium, Germany or Spain.

ClientEarth is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or legal services to third parties.