ClientEarth is looking for a Lawyer, Clean Air, Water and Soil

• Salary: Brussels €4.938 gross per month, Berlin €5.612 gross per month, Madrid €61,346 gross per annum

• Location: Berlin, Brussels, Madrid

• Contract Type: Indefinite

• Hours: Full Time

• Closing Date: 7 October 2024

• First Interview Dates: Starting from the 16th of October

About the role

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. 

Meet your Manager

In this role you will be managed by Nieves Noval (Lead of Clean Air, Water & Soil). Nieves joined ClientEarth in 2018. Prior to her current role she was an international Legal Counsel for the renewable energies industry. Prior to that, she was a public litigation lawyer for several national and international law firms and an Associate Lecturer on litigation at Universidad Europea.

Main Duties

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

See the job description (below) for a full list of duties for this role.

Role requirements

• Fluent in English (CEFR level C2)

• Degree in law, or equivalent 

• 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

• Experience of working on building and/or defending cases for litigation

• A good understanding of broader EU environmental law and of the EU clean air legal framework

See the job description (below) for a full list of requirements for this role.

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.

Download the full job description.