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Climate Litigation Lawyers (Company/Financial) (London) X2
ABOUT THE ROLE
These exciting and challenging roles are designed for two lawyers to make a key contribution to developing and delivering our new climate litigation work. The focus of the roles is to advance our work on using litigation and similar legal interventions to change corporate and investment behaviour in relation to climate change. The successful candidates will be required to analyse the relevant legal, policy, commercial and political terrain and identify opportunities for developing strategic litigation and other legal interventions to improve corporate and/or investment transparency and decision making in relation climate change.
Funding for these positions is initially for three years, the roles are based in ClientEarth’s London office.
ABOUT YOU
The successful candidates will have a demonstrated track record in law and will be ready to contribute to strategic legal thinking, advocacy and creative problem solving in a public interest law setting. You will also have a demonstrated track record in litigation and have an understanding of UK company law and/or financial or investment law and the wider legal frameworks governing the regulation of, decision making by, and legal liabilities affecting companies and institutional investors based in the UK. More generally, you will be a strategic thinker, able to apply legal skills creativity, an excellent communicator, comfortable in conveying complex ideas to a wide variety of audiences. You are also committed to environmental issues and to urgent action on climate change.
ABOUT US
ClientEarth is a public interest environmental law group founded in 2007. ClientEarth brings together law, science and policy to create practical solutions to key environmental challenges. Working in partnership with civil society and policy-makers, ClientEarth is committed to securing the rights of citizens and civil society to participation, information and justice in environmental matters. In Europe and beyond, ClientEarth’s 60 strong staff includes legal experts qualified in more than ten jurisdictions based in offices in London, Brussels and Warsaw and with lawyers in Ghana, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville. Our programmes cover environmental justice, biodiversity, climate and forests, climate and energy, and health and environment.
LITIGATION TEAM OVERVIEW
The formation of a litigation team is a new initiative at ClientEarth. Over the past year we have been working on developing a strategy to use litigation and similar legal interventions to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy. This team will build on the work of the Climate & Energy programme as well as extend our current clean air litigation work.
ClientEarth´s existing Climate and Energy Programme focuses primarily on advancing the development of law and policy to drive Europe´s transition to a low carbon, efficient and affordable energy system. This work includes extensive litigation work in Poland. ClientEarth´s CleanAir campaign focuses on improving air quality in the UK and EU, including our recent air quality case in the UK Supreme Court and the ECJ regarding the UK´s breaches of EU air pollution legislation.
The new litigation team will build on our existing climate, energy and clean air work by developing and implementing strategies for using litigation and other legal interventions to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and cleaner air. The litigation strategies are likely to include use of company and financial laws to improve corporate and investment transparency and decision-making in relation to climate change, EU energy and climate laws to enhance the viability of renewables in Europe and EU air pollution legislation to improve air quality across Europe.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Working relationships
The position reports to the Company & Financial Litigation Project Leader. The post holders will also have key relationships across the Litigation Programme and more widely across ClientEarth’s programmes and functions including development and communications.
Job responsibilities
- Researching and evaluating the potential for using legal interventions to improve transparency and decision-making amongst corporate and financial actors in relation to climate change
- Selecting and developing cases for targeted legal intervention and preparing them for legal action such as litigation, shareholder actions or making complaints to regulators
- Evaluating the risks of such legal action to ClientEarth and others potential litigants, and the potential strategic benefits to climate mitigation objectives
- Preparation of high quality written work as part of legal interventions, for example writing complaints to regulators
- Collaboration with colleagues within the litigation team and in other related ClientEarth Programmes
- Initiating and maintaining collaborative partnerships and working relationships with key partners such as other NGOs, external solicitors and barristers, experts and stakeholders such as pension fund members or shareholders
- Producing high quality written work products tailored to communicate our thinking on this project to a wide variety of legal, policy, political, civil society and interdisciplinary audiences
- Effective participation in formal and informal forums and groups, and representing ClientEarth’s thinking and analysis in external forums
- Where required, engaging in fundraising including developing concepts and proposals for submission to funders and producing activity reports
- Developing and engaging in communications associated with the Programme including website communications and press relations
- Contributing to the strategic development of the litigation work
Experience & knowledge
- At least 1 - 3 years experience of relevant legal practice
- Knowledge of relevant legal frameworks affecting the activities of companies and investors such as pension funds, such as: company law, finance and investment law and pensions law.
- Experience of litigation or arbitration involving companies or investors (such as pension funds), and/or of financial or company regulators
- An interest in and/or understanding of climate change policy, regulation and litigation
Competencies & skills
- Excellent creative, critical and lateral thinking and analytical skills and ability to grasp quickly new concepts and areas of law with an openness to learning and new ideas
- Excellent legal research, analysis, writing, advisory and advocacy skills
- Fluent in English
- A practical, out-come focused approach to the law
- Ability to think and plan strategically, and to break complex issues and strategies into defined, outcome-oriented activities
- Excellent written and oral communication skills to give authoritative advice and influence external audiences, to adapt language, content and style to make communications relevant to policy-makers, funders, press
- Able to represent ClientEarth confidently in a range of forums
- Confident working with and assimilating complex technical, scientific, political, commercial and legal material
- Ability to engage constructively with and develop relationships with a range of external stakeholders in government, industry and civil society
- Ability to work both independently and in a team-oriented, collaborative manner within a multi-disciplinary and multicultural environmental
- Excellent organisational skills, able to set priorities and manage multiple tasks and react positively in light of shifting and competing timelines
- Excellent commercial, political and practical judgement and diplomacy
- Motivated to achieve results and ability to spot and take advantage of opportunities to achieve change
Qualifications
- Law degree or equivalent
- Preferably relevant legal professional qualification
Location
The positions will be based in London and may involve some travel within Europe and the US.
Salary
The salary will be dependent on experience. Package includes the option to join our 4% contributory pension scheme after 3 months of employment.
TO APPLY
Please send us your CV and a cover letter explaining your interest in joining ClientEarth and the contribution you believe you could make to the organisation.
Please include ‘Climate Litigation Lawyer (Company and Financial)’ in the email subject line, and identify the documents you are sending by including ‘[your name] - Climate Litigation Lawyer cover letter’ and ‘[your name] CV’ in the file name.
Please address your application to Patricia del Rio, Administration and Human Resources Manager, The Hothouse, 274 Richmond Road, London E8 3QW or send it by email to jobs@clientearth.org.
Recruitment is open now and you should send your application as soon as possible. Applications close on 9 October 2014.
If you wish to apply for several positions, please send us a separate email including your CV and a specific cover letter for each position you wish to be considered for.
Please note that ClientEarth will only consider candidates who have the legal right to work in the EU.
If you have any questions about the roles advertised or recruitment process, please contact Patricia del Rio ( pdelrio@clientearth.org).
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