Build your Food & Ag Law Expertise

Consider joining us in the LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Our students attend either full- or part-time, on-campus or by distance. Many are experienced professionals. We provide an excellent value and an exceptional opportunity. Vist our website at law.uark.edu/llm or email us at LLM@uark.edu.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Public Justice Foundation: Food Project Fellow

FOOD PROJECT FELLOW

Washington, DC
Oakland, CA 

PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION

http://www.publicjustice.net
Date Posted: 08/31/2017
Job Type: Legal: Project-Based (e.g., Skadden)
Schedule: Long-term & full-time
Experience: Entry Level 0-3 years
Bar membership required: Awaiting Results
Practice Areas: Animal Rights, Consumer Protection/Debt, Employment/Labor, Environmental, First Amendment, Food and Drug, Litigation, Water Resources

Job Description

Public Justice is a nonprofit organization dedicated to pursuing high impact lawsuits nationwide to preserve the integrity of our society and the planet we call home. It seeks to host recent law graduates with outside fellowship funding, including fellowships through Equal Justice Works, Skadden, and law schools, as part of its Food Project.
Public Justice’s Food Project works to address the fact that our current industrialized factory farm system allows a few corporate actors to exercise extraordinary legal, legislative, electoral, communications, and market power, to the detriment of independent farmers, animals, the land, water, consumers, and the public. Our vision is part of the good food movement’s vision for a food and animal agriculture system that is just, sustainable and accountable. To attain our vision, Public Justice’s Food Project uses cutting-edge litigation that is coordinated with the larger good food movement to redress the structural and institutional inequities on which the current system relies. Our work falls under the following tactical umbrellas: (1) forcing the industrialized factory farm model to internalize impacts on farmed animals, neighboring communities, food chain workers, and the environment; (2) challenging misleading narratives, including consumer product information, and industry-sponsored laws that block transparency or seek to disguise the true nature of industrial production; (3) combating corporate consolidation and dominance of markets on behalf of independent producers; and (4) aligning ourselves with independent farmers and rural communities against an administration that purports to speak for these constituencies, but instead perpetuates corporate power.
The fellow would work with Food Project attorneys and other staff attorneys to develop and implement new legal strategies in one or more of these areas, expanding the Project’s tactics and docket. For example, we would be interested in speaking with candidates about ways to use environmental litigation to protect agricultural workers and their families, develop and implement a campaign to challenge laws that limit factory farms’ liability, or expand our efforts to obtain and publicize records that document the harms caused by industrial agriculture. Public Justice’s two Food Project Attorneys will enthusiastically collaborate with candidates on their fellowship proposals. The fellow could work in either Public Justice’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. or its Oakland, California office.
REQUIREMENTS:
  • Superb analytical, legal research, legal writing, and speaking skills
  • 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
  • Excellent attention to detail and commitment to follow-through
  • Positive attitude and can-do personality
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Willingness to travel for several weeks per year to visit and work with impacted communities
  • Healthy sense of outrage and desire to change the world for the better
Public Justice is an equal opportunity employer with a non-smoking environment. Diversity valued. Applications invited without regard to race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, or disability. For more information on Public Justice, please visit our website at www.publicjustice.net. For more information about the Food Project, please visit https://www.publicjustice.net/what-we-do/food-safety-health/.

Salary

$41k - $55k/year

Application Instructions:

Your application should consist of two electronic files: (1) your cover letter, resume, transcript 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). In your cover letter, please summarize your proposed contribution to Public Justice’s Food Project, provide the potential source(s) of fellowship funding, and specify whether you are applying to work in the Washington, D.C. office or the Oakland office. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Please send your application to Leah Nicholls at lnicholls@publicjustice.net.
By -