Overview
The Beagle/HLS Fellowship at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a position with NRDC’s Litigation Team open to Harvard Law School (HLS) students and recent alumni. The Beagle Fellowship was established by a generous gift to HLS by the Beagle Foundation, which was established by the late Joy Covey ’89. The Beagle/HLS Fellow will serve as part of a cohort of around six other Litigation Team fellows.
NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. Founded in 1970, they helped write some of America’s bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, their team of more than 600 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from offices in Beijing; Chicago; New Delhi; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; and Washington, D.C.
Position Summary
NRDC is seeking a Beagle/HLS Fellow to work with the Litigation Team in its Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Santa Monica, or Washington, D.C. offices. The term for this fellowship is Fall 2025 through Fall 2027, with the possibility of extension through Fall 2028.
The Beagle/HLS Fellowship is open to graduating Harvard Law School students or recent alumni who graduated in 2022 or later. Applicants must be available to start work in Fall 2025.
The Fellow will join NRDC’s Litigation Team, a group of approximately 40 lawyers, paralegals, and operations staff. The team pursues litigation across a broad range of environmental and public health issues and in collaboration with and on behalf of communities most impacted by environmental injustices (including Black, indigenous, and people of color, and low-income and rural communities).
Over the past several years, the team has litigated cases against the federal government to prevent climate pollution, challenge agency approvals of toxic chemicals and pesticides, resist the suspension of clean water safeguards, oppose offshore drilling and seismic exploration for oil and gas, defend national monuments, and protect energy efficiency standards, among other matters. The team also brings enforcement cases against corporate and governmental entities whose violations harm health and the environment — including recent cases to protect the people of Newark, New Jersey and Flint, Michigan, from lead in drinking water; to remediate toxic pollution in the Penobscot River in Maine; to abate mold in New York City public housing for residents with asthma; and to clean up a chemical manufacturing plant in Pittsburg, California.
Responsibilities
The Beagle/HLS Fellow’s responsibilities include:
- Working with a team of lawyers and paralegals on active cases and case development projects, including by both providing support on cases led by senior attorneys and leading cases, or substantial aspects of cases, under the supervision of senior attorneys.
- Collaborating with NRDC program staff, clients, experts, and coalition and community partners to support litigation goals.
- Conducting legal research and factual investigations.
- Writing briefs, motions, and memoranda.
- Presenting oral arguments and participating in status conferences and other hearings.
- Engaging in discovery and conducting record and document review.
- Preparing for and taking depositions.
- Contributing to institutional initiatives such as projects related to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our work, intern hiring and coordination, and organizing CLEs.
Qualifications
This Beagle/HLS fellowship is designed for Harvard Law School graduates and attorneys with up to three years of litigation experience. In assessing candidates, they are looking for:
- Admission to the Bar of the jurisdiction in which they intend to practice, or willingness to complete the requirements for admission to that Bar.
- Strong legal writing and analytical skills.
- Strong oral and written communication skills.
- Ability to work independently and take initiative.
- Experience working effectively with a team.
- 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.
- Demonstrated commitment to public service, equity, or social justice (including environmental, economic, or racial justice).
- Commitment to NRDC’s values and mission.
NRDC believes that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet’s most pressing environmental problems, and encourages applications from candidates whose identities have been historically underrepresented in the environmental movement.
NRDC is an equal opportunity employer and does 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, NRDC will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
NRDC offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with skills and experience. For this position, the salary is $91,000 to $100,000. Internal equity considerations will be reviewed before making a final offer.
The Fellow’s salary will be treated as eligible for HLS’s loan repayment program.
NRDC’s offices are open and is operating in a hybrid model.
To apply, visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your résumé, cover letter, law school transcript, writing sample, and a personal essay (no more than 500 words). Please include a statement in your cover letter indicating which NRDC office(s) you would prefer working in, and which office you would consider. Two letters of recommendation are requested, preferably including one from an HLS faculty member, and the name of a third reference. Include the names of your recommenders and reference in your cover letter. Please send the letters of recommendation directly to May Huang at the HLS Environmental Law Program.
The application deadline is October 26, 2024. Applications will be reviewed by NRDC and an HLS Committee. First-round interviews will be conducted in October/November 2024. Applicants will be notified about the outcome of the selection process by December 2024.