Public Justice is a public interest legal advocacy organization dedicated to pursuing high impact lawsuits to combat social and economic injustice, protect the Earth’s sustainability, and challenge predatory corporate conduct and government abuses. Public Justice seeks to hire a litigator with at least eight years of relevant experience for a Senior Attorney position in our Access to Justice Project.
Public Justice Overview
Public Justice specializes in high-impact, cutting-edge litigation. We use that tool along with strategic communications and partnerships to take on the biggest systemic threats to justice of our time—abusive corporate power and predatory practices, the assault on civil rights and civil liberties, and the destruction of the earth’s sustainability. Our Access to Justice Project is one of several substantive areas of our work. Our other substantive areas include the Debtors’ Prison Project, which combats the criminalization of poverty; the Environmental Enforcement Project, which fights climate change and secures environmental justice; and the Students’ Civil Rights Project, which combats harassment and discrimination in schools.
Access to Justice Project Overview
The Access to Justice Project seeks to make the civil court system a fair, equitable, and effective tool for those with less power to win just outcomes and hold those with more power accountable.
The Project challenges and removes the key inequities that block access to justice through the civil courts and creates new opportunities to make the civil courts an effective tool for equitable justice. To achieve this outcome, Access to Justice works with a network of litigators, organizations, and others who share our vision, and in partnership with them, identifies, assesses, and prioritizes key barriers and opportunities for a just and equitable civil court system.
The Access to Justice Project works toward these goals primarily through strategic high-impact litigation, but also supports coalition advocacy and works to educate and engage on these topics. The Project’s areas of focus include combatting the use of forced arbitration and other contractual restrictions on bringing claims in court, restrictive standing doctrines, excessive court secrecy, federal preemption of state-law claims, undue limitations on class actions, and limits on accountability for law enforcement and detention abuses.
For more information about the litigation and advocacy work of the Access to Justice Project, visit our website - https://www.publicjustice.net.
Job Responsibilities:
• Serve as lead counsel or co-counsel in the investigation and development of impact litigation that furthers the strategic goals of the Access to Justice Project and the mission of Public Justice.
• Participate in the full range of litigation tasks involved in the Access to Justice Project, primarily legal research and analysis, briefing, and oral arguments, client representation, and, occasionally, factual investigation, discovery, and settlement negotiation.
• Review requests for representation and develop appropriate cases, appeals, amicus briefs, and special legal projects.
• Supervise junior attorneys and legal fellows engaged in Access to Justice projects.
• Develop and engage in a broad range of legal advocacy through and outside the courts (including drafting and reviewing legislation; drafting rulemaking petitions, comments to agencies, letters, fact sheets and other materials; and participating in meetings and events) regarding the Access to Justice Project’s advocacy priorities.
• Participate in developing and implementing a communications plan to educate lawmakers, trial lawyers, grassroots supporters, and others about the barriers hindering access to and effective use of civil courts.
• Build networks and collaborate with allies to fight corporate and governmental abuses and ensure a robust and equitable civil court system.
• Participate in strategic planning and other planning initiatives for the Access to Justice Project.
Qualifications:
• J.D. degree and at least eight years of post-law school experience, which can include a clerkship or fellowship.
• Excellent analytical, writing, and speaking skills and the ability to modulate writing and speaking style for different types of audiences.
• Excellent outreach and networking skills.
• Litigation experience with progressively increasing responsibilities for case management.
• Experience supervising other attorneys or fellows.
• Ability to juggle multiple tasks at a time and work in a fast-paced environment.
• Self-motivation and proven ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to develop a long-range plan and to set intermediate goals towards achieving those long-range objectives, including the ability to be flexible and shift goals as necessary.
• Familiarity with, or interest in and ability to quickly gain familiarity with, the Access to Justice Project’s areas of substantive focus.
• Sensitivity to the needs and concerns of, and ability to work well with, individuals and groups from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.
• Excellent attention to detail and commitment to follow-through.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Healthy sense of outrage and desire to change the world for the better.
Benefits & Compensation
This is an exempt position and reports to the Director of the Access to Justice Project. Public Justice operates as a remote organization, embracing flexibility and inclusivity that remote work offers. However, recognizing the value of in-person collaboration and the need for physical office space, Public Justice has an office in Washington, D.C. Because Public Justice handles litigation, education, and advocacy nationally, the position will entail some travel.
We offer a mission-focused work environment, a teamwork and community-oriented approach, and a competitive compensation package. We recognize and support healthy work-life balance policies, including operating on a four-day work week year-round. We also offer a generous benefits package, including flexible time off, two weeks of sick leave, all federal and some local holidays, end of the year office closure, employer-paid health, dental and vision insurance premiums for employee and eligible dependents, and a 401(k) plan.
Our attorneys are paid on a salary scale based on years out of law school. In 2026, the starting annual salary for an attorney 8 years out of law school is $120,250.
Applications
Interested candidates should submit a:
• Cover letter that conveys why you are drawn to Public Justice’s mission and how your experience fits with that mission. Please specify in your cover letter whether you are applying to work in the Washington, D.C. office or remotely.
• Resume.
• Contact information for three references.
• Writing sample, preferably a legal brief that is either unedited or only lightly edited by someone other than you. Please include a cover sheet explaining the extent of editing by someone else.
Please send your application to [email protected]. Reference “Access to Justice Project Senior Attorney” in the subject line. The application deadline is January 20, 2026. For more information on Public Justice, please visit our website at www.publicjustice.net.
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