NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Beijing; Chicago; New Delhi; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; and Washington, D.C.

NRDC and Yale Law School are seeking a NRDC-Yale Environmental Justice Law Fellow.

Position Summary

NRDC and Yale Law School are hiring a Legal Fellow for a two-year fellowship starting in August 2026. For the first year, through August 2027, the Fellow will work at NRDC. During that time, the Fellow will work within NRDC’s Environment, Equity & Justice Center (EEJC) to provide legal support with and for environmental justice communities across the United States, including but not limited to scoping, shaping, and advancing litigation, as well as legal, policy, and coalition-building strategies to redress environmental harms and secure environmental benefits in environmental justice communities. The Fellow will work closely with, and be supervised by, experienced NRDC attorneys. The Fellow will also collaborate with community-based partners and environmental justice groups externally and with the Litigation Team and other NRDC Departments internally. The Fellow will be affiliated with one of NRDC’s major domestic offices (New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, or Santa Monica), depending on the Fellow’s preference and NRDC’s needs.  During this year, the fellow may be expected to occasionally travel to other NRDC U.S.-based offices.

For the second year (August 2027 through August 2028), the Fellow will work at Yale Law School based in New Haven, Connecticut, as a clinical legal fellow with the Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic (EJLA), part of the law school’s Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization. Working with EJLA’s director, Professor Stephanie Safdi, the Fellow will supervise student attorneys in representing community-based organizations, Tribal Nations, residents groups, and non-profit coalitions to advance environmental justice and intersectional concerns such as Tribal sovereignty, environmental protection, public health, civil rights, and participatory environmental governance. Clinic cases may include matters undertaken in partnership with NRDC that the Fellow has worked on during the first year of the Fellowship. In addition to student supervision, the Fellow will participate in clinical teaching, case intake and docket development, and development of environmental law and justice programming within Yale Law School and interdisciplinary offerings with other university programs. The fellowship will include engagement in scholarly activities at the law school and trainings in clinical pedagogy and practice through Yale’s clinical program.

The position you are applying for is part of the bargaining unit represented by The Washington Baltimore News Guild (WBNG / The Newsguild-CWA Local 32035).  

In first year, work within EEJC to:

• Develop relationships with communities and work with them to identify opportunities to partner or collaborate; actively engage in existing coalitions and partnerships.
• Create project plans, track timelines, and determine key deliverables and milestones, while managing workflows and collaboration across multiple staff members.
• Facilitate and co-facilitate meetings, including creating agendas, taking notes, and capturing takeaways/next steps; follow up with responsible parties to ensure accountability.
• Screen and develop potential new litigation, including conducting factual investigations and legal and policy research.
• Provide legal and policy research, as well as strategic advice around environmental justice issues to members of the team and to partners.
• Facilitate and engage in communication and follow-up with clients and partner organizations.
• Collaborate as part of a team of attorneys, policy advocates, and scientists to support environmental justice goals.
• Represent NRDC at hearings, conferences, coalition meetings, and venues with decisionmakers.
• Advocate for the adoption or passage of critical legislation, city ordinances, and government regulations.
• Write briefs, motions, and memoranda.
• Supervise and delegate projects to interns and volunteers.

In second year, support the Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic and related programming at Yale Law School as a clinical legal fellow. Specific responsibilities include:

• Supervise student attorneys in representation of clinic clients.
• Partner with the clinic’s director in shaping clinic seminar syllabi to support student learning and representations.
• Co-teach substantive and skills-based classes as part of the clinic’s seminar for new students and its advanced seminar for returning students.
• Assist in the clinic’s intake process, in need assessments, and in shaping the clinic docket.
• Supervise summer interns during the law school’s summer break and cover cases during school holidays.
• Participate in clinical faculty meetings and trainings for new clinicians and contribute to development and enrichment of clinical programming in the law school.
• Collaborate in development and operation of interdisciplinary environmental law and justice programming across the law school and university.

The above list of duties is not comprehensive but generally demonstrates the types of matters under this position’s responsibility. Other duties may be assigned.  

Education & Experience:

• Juris Doctorate within the past three years from any accredited law school.
• Admission to the Bar in the jurisdiction where the Fellow will be based, or willingness to complete the requirements for admission to that Bar.

Skills, Abilities, Competencies:

• Strong legal writing and analytical skills, as well as oral and written communication skills.
• Strong academic and professional record.
• Ability to contribute effectively as a member of a team and collaborate across a large organization.
• Demonstrated competency in working with people with different social identities than their own (including race, gender, sexual identity or orientation, age, class, and disability).
• Creativity and resourcefulness.
• Commitment to NRDC’s mission, values, and DEI principles.
• Comfort interpreting scientific and technical concepts.
• Capacity to work hard, efficiently, and independently.
• Demonstrated interest in fields of environmental law and justice, Indigenous rights and sovereignty, and/or civil rights.
• Interest in mentoring students in advocacy related to environmental law and justice and in cultivation of legal practice skills.

Preferred:

• Experience in creative and community-driven advocacy
• Prior legal experience such as through substantial clinical practice or a judicial clerkship.
• Interest in scholarship and/or clinical teaching.
• Knowledge of environmental, civil rights, and administrative law

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement. 

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.  

We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. Internal equity will be reviewed and considered to determine a final offer. For this position, the salary range is $87,000 to $93,000.  

NRDC operates under a hybrid work model. Employees are required to come to the office 8 days per month.

As a science-based organization, NRDC aims to do our part to help contain the COVID-19 public health crisis. For the sake of health, safety, and equity, we ask that people be vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious accommodation or other exemption in accordance with state and local law. We consider a person to be vaccinated two weeks after receiving one full course of a CDC-approved vaccine. In accordance with state or local law, new hires will be asked to attest to vaccination, those wishing to do so may request medical or religious accommodations or other exemptions via NRDC Employee Relations. NRDC treats all vaccine-related data confidentially, in keeping with local, state, and federal laws. 

To apply, visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your résumé and cover letter. Please mention where you saw this posting and upload any additional materials that showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of applications, we will contact only those candidates we would like to interview. Please no phone calls, emails, or in-person résumé drop-offs. 

If you experience technical problems while applying or if you are a person with a disability and need assistance applying online, please reach out to iCIMS Customer Care at 1-800-889-4422. 

For more about NRDC, visit www.nrdc.org.