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Thursday, March 12, 2015

Public Justice Foundation: Food Safety Attorney

FOOD SAFETY ATTORNEY

Washington, DC 

PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION

http://www.publicjustice.net
Date Posted: 03/06/2015
Job Type: ATTORNEY
Schedule Type: Full Time
Practice Areas: Administrative Law, Food & Drug Law, Impact Litigation

Job Description

Public Justice, a national public interest law firm dedicated to pursuing justice for the victims of corporate and government abuses, seeks to hire a litigator with at least five years of relevant experience. The attorney will work exclusively on our Food Safety and Health Project, which uses litigation to reform harmful practices employed by industrial animal agriculture and to support a more sustainable and humane food production system. The Project principally focuses on using environmental and tort law actions to force large-scale animal agribusiness to internalize the true cost of the way they do business—costs now shifted to neighboring communities, consumers, and the environment. The position is funded by way of a three-year grant and open immediately.
The Food Safety Attorney will primarily be responsible for developing and prosecuting precedent-setting and socially-significant lawsuits against agribusiness actors nationwide. The attorney should be prepared to develop new legal theories outside of environmental law, and think holistically about how to reform the industry. Other duties will include networking with attorneys and other public interest groups; helping to develop and define strategic goals; and supporting fundraising and communication efforts for the organization. The right candidate will be a top-notch litigator with environmental and tort law experience, who is a creative and strategic thinker able to work both independently and within teams.
The Food Safety Attorney will work closely with Food Safety & Health Attorney Jessica Culpepper and report to the Executive Director. He or she will work collaboratively with Public Justice’s attorneys, outside lawyers who support Public Justice’s work, and other public interest groups in order to develop and bring precedent-setting food safety cases. He or she will also use traditional and social media networks to publicize our work, develop speaking engagements to educate the public about Public Justice’s food safety cases and the issues they represent, and assist with donor and foundation relations and communications.

Qualifications

  • A law degree and at least five years of litigation experience;
  • Superb analytical, legal research, and legal writing skills;
  • Excellent communication and public speaking skills;
  • Experience in environmental law;
  • Experience in tort law, and specifically nuisance cases;
  • Ability to develop a case from the ground up with little supervision;
  • Willingness to undertake significant business travel;
  • Ability to juggle multiple tasks at a time and work in a fast-paced environment;
  • Self-motivation and proven ability to work independently;
  • Ability to work well with others and diverse groups; and
  • Healthy sense of outrage and desire to change the world for the better.

Application Instructions:

Your application should consist of two electronic files: (1) your cover letter, resume, and references in a single .pdf file; and (2) a writing sample in another .pdf file, comprised of a legal brief for which you were the primary author (please note the contributions of others).
Your application should consist of two electronic files. Please send both files.
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