DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: The Public Integrity Unit of the Public Advocacy Division of the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (OAG) is seeking an experienced environmental litigator to handle complex environmental law matters. The Public Advocacy Division investigates and litigates civil cases aimed at protecting the public interest. The Public Integrity Unit brings enforcement cases against companies and individuals that engage in unlawful commercial activity causing harm to the public or harm to the District Government itself. The Division prosecutes a wide range of cases, including cases seeking damages or injunctive relief for violations of the antitrust, environmental, anti-fraud, nonprofit, and charities laws. Recent enforcement actions have addressed a wide range of public interest issues, including diversion of funding from public charter schools, misuse of District grant funds, online lending to consumers, and airline competition at Reagan National Airport.
The successful candidate will have primary responsibility for OAG’s environmental legal work. The District enters into, enforces, and complies with a number of consent decrees to clean up hazardous environmental sites. The successful candidate will evaluate these agreements, including assessing them for litigation potential, and litigating them when warranted. Further, the District has authority to enforce a number of local and federal environmental laws; for example, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Brownfield Act. The successful candidate will evaluate facts under these laws, recommend legal strategies, and implement those strategies. The successful candidate will work closely with the District’s Department of Energy and Environment in assessing cleanups, determining strategy around consent decrees and litigation, and evaluating whether the District could be more aggressive in its enforcement of existing environmental authorities. The successful candidate will also be charged with understanding best practices in environmental litigation in other attorney general offices around the country, and suggesting improvements in the way the District does its environmental law business.
QUALIFICATIONS: A minimum of five years of relevant, environmental litigation experience is required. This experience should include handling complex matters with multiple parties involved. The candidate should also have excellent analytical, writing and litigation skills.
ELIGIBILITY: The successful candidate must have a law degree and be an active member in good standing of the bar of any jurisdiction. If not a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the candidate must be sworn into the District of Columbia Bar within 360 days of his/her initial appointment with the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
HOW TO APPLY: Candidates should e-mail one PDF file which includes: 1) a cover letter (must include the vacancy number) summarizing why you are interested and the skills and abilities you possess that will enable you to succeed in this position; 2) résumé; 3) list of three references; and 4) a writing sample to [email protected] by 11:59pm EST on July 7, 2017, addressed to Arlyntha Love, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, 441 4th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.