Staff Attorney - Environmental Law

Job Description

Job Description

Job Opening Announcement: Wildlands and Wildlife Program Staff Attorney

Reports to: Wildlands and Wildlife Program Director

Location: Portland, Oregon strongly preferred. Other WELC office locations may be considered for an exceptional candidate in the right situation.

Timeline: Job opening posted July 9, 2026; we will review applications and interview candidates on a rolling basis and encourage early applications. The position is open until filled.

The Western Environmental Law Center is a leading nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm rooted in the landscapes and communities of the western U.S. Founded in 1993, WELC has been celebrated as an Outside Magazine Best Place to Work for the final six years of the contest (it ended in 2024), Oregon Business Magazine Best Nonprofit, Law360 Environmental Group of the Year, and Better Business Bureau Torch Award winner for ethics.

We envision a thriving western U.S., abundant with protected and interconnected ecosystems, powered by renewable energy, and cared for by communities brought together in an ecology of kinship. We embrace a collaborative, team-based approach to foster the trust, belonging, and dignity essential to a healthy organization and to relationship-based advocacy that builds power for transformative change.

We seek to retain a Staff Attorney (2+ years of experience) to join our team. We strongly encourage people of color, persons with disabilities, women, LGBTQ+ applicants, and people of diverse lived experience to apply.

The Wildlands & Wildlife Program Staff Attorney is an exempt, full-time position. The central focus of this position is strategic legal advocacy centered on public lands, waters, wildlife, and communities in the western U.S. The position's responsibilities will be allocated among the following core areas:

• Litigation and administrative engagement protecting federal public lands, wildlife habitat, species, and water.
• Engagement in federal and potentially state-level legislation, rulemaking, and policymaking to protect public lands, water, and species. This may include defense of existing laws and regulations as well as efforts to improve the same.

Given the dynamic moment in which we find ourselves, this litigation position's focus and time allocations will necessarily evolve in response to changing political, scientific, social, and economic circumstances and opportunities consistent with specific organizational strategies. Further, the position may be somewhat flexible to accommodate a successful candidate's distinctive skills, experiences, and interests to further and complement WELC's strategic Wildlands and Wildlife focus. WELC's organizational and strategic direction is not "top down," but is informed precisely by the individual qualities of its staff. Moreover, the location of the successful candidate will play a role in their precise docket of work.

Accordingly, over time, the Staff Attorney will be encouraged and supported to identify and advance opportunities to shape WELC's organizational and strategic direction, to share perspectives, and to become a trusted and respected leader in their field and within their scope of work. The Staff Attorney will support and coordinate with WELC leadership, development, communications, and finance staff, as well as represent WELC in public and private settings. The Staff Attorney will also participate in retreats, trainings, and other organizational events.

To fulfill this position's responsibilities, the Staff Attorney may provide a full range of legal services on behalf of WELC, including primarily litigation, but also policy advocacy, and administrative action. To excel in these efforts, the Staff Attorney will stay apprised of relevant law, policy, social, and other developments. The Staff Attorney will work collaboratively with staff across the organization, as well as with partner organizations and clients.

The Staff Attorney is a normal 40-hour week position based out of WELC'S Portland office or, potentially for an exceptional candidate, another of WELC's offices, primarily working during Monday to Friday business hours, though some night and weekend hours may be required at times, depending on organizational and advocacy needs. Limited travel is required, averaging a total of 2-3 weeks per year, including some overnight and weekend travel. The position also involves standard office physical demands. WELC will provide all reasonable accommodations to the extent possible or required pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We are keenly interested in considering a range of applicants with diverse lived experiences who approach the world with kindness, empathy, imagination, and vision. We will happily consider applicants who offer an equivalent or alternative set of qualifications to fulfill this position's responsibilities, apart from the first two qualifications set forth below, which are mandatory.

• Law degree from an accredited law school.
• Admission to and good standing with the state bar in Oregon, and/or one of the states where we practice and willingness and ability to obtain membership to the Oregon state bar at the earliest.
• Lived experience within or past work experience in partnership with people and communities of diverse backgrounds and experience, particularly in the western U.S.
• Two or more years relevant attorney experience.
• Excellent research, writing, and oral advocacy.
• Experience with and knowledge of public lands, waters, species, and community challenges and opportunities in the western U.S.
• Experience with and knowledge of the relevant agencies, laws, and regulations employed in litigation to protect public lands, waters, and species.
• Ability and willingness to use a complete set of legal advocacy tools including litigation, policy, and administrative advocacy.
• A commitment to conceptualizing and implementing legal strategies that further equity, inclusion, and justice, including through the just treatment and meaningful involvement of clients, partners, and frontline community groups and individuals.
• Dynamic and empathetic skills to foster relationships with partners, clients, agency staff, and community members. Demonstrated ability to work in complex, potentially high-conflict, multi- dimensional arenas involving a broad array of organizations and interests.
• Eagerness to mentor, support, and help develop newer attorneys and a self-awareness, motivation, and desire to seek opportunities for your own growth and development.
• An interest in and understanding of science and other technical fields and their interplay with public interest environmental law.
• Ability to work independently and proactively, including a willingness to be flexible and adaptive when needed.
• Desire to work on and contribute to a team. This includes learning from others, giving and receiving support and feedback, and active, constructive engagement in organizational discussions to advance the organization's mission and contribute to its cohesion.
• Highly organized and intellectually curious.
• Demonstrated commitment to WELC's mission and strategies and the public interest, as well as a love for the land, waters, species, and communities of the western U.S.

Western Environmental Law Center is an equal opportunity employer. We offer a flexible, friendly, team-based environment with immediate opportunities to shape organizational strategies, and competitive, transparent, and equity-based salaries as follows:

• Staff Attorney, range based on years of legal experience:
  • $76,000 (2 years) - $106,000 (10 years) with commensurate increases for an attorney with greater experience.
• WELC offers an excellent benefits package:
  • including health, vision, dental, life, and disability coverage (with 100% employer paid premiums),
  • a 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% employer match,
  • 22 days combined of paid annual vacation and personal leave,
  • 13 days of paid holiday leave,
  • paid sick leave, and
  • a paid long-term leave policy (3 months sabbatical leave for every 5 years of employment).

Please submit the following as a pdf attachment:

• 1-2 page cover letter addressed to Sarah McMillan, Wildlands & Wildlife Program Director;
• Resume ;
• 3 professional references ; and
• 1-2 concise writing samples , with at least 1 writing sample involving a legal memorandum, brief, or filing. An additional, non-legal writing sample is also welcomed to illustrate the candidate's background, views, or ideas.

Cover letters should communicate applicants' commitment to WELC's mission and advocacy and their motivation to work in this position and in public interest environmental law generally. In your cover letter, please do not repeat information apparent from a review of your resume. Instead, applicants are very strongly encouraged to tell us who they are as human beings, why they care about this work, and why they want to work for WELC specifically.

For more information about WELC, please visit