Our Children's Trust is looking for current law students to join us as Law Clerks to support our Legal Team!
This is an unprecedented opportunity for a law student to be part of a cutting-edge legal strategy and work with some of the top attorneys and scientists from around the world to address the climate crisis.
Our Mission:
Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit public interest law firm that provides strategic, campaign-based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate. We work to protect the Earth’s climate system for present and future generations by representing young people in global legal efforts to secure their binding and enforceable legal rights to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate, based on the best available science. We support our youth clients and amplify their voices before the third branch of government in a highly strategic legal campaign that includes targeted media, education, and public engagement work to support the youths’ legal actions. Our legal work – guided by constitutional, public trust, human rights laws and the laws of nature – aims to ensure systemic and science-based climate recovery planning and remedies at federal, state, and global levels. We seek legally-binding, countrywide and/or statewide science-based Climate Recovery Plans that will return atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to levels below 350 ppm by the year 2100.
Position Summary:
Our Children’s Trust (OCT) is a nonprofit organization seeking law students interested in using the law to fight climate change. OCT works to secure the legal right to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate for current and future generations through its coordination of a global legal campaign. As a part of this strategic campaign, since 2011 OCT has supported youth in filing legal actions in every U.S. state (including the historic settlement agreement in Navahine v. Hawai’i Department of Transportation and the first constitutional climate lawsuit to go to trial in the U.S. in Held v. State of Montana), against the federal government , and in different countries around the world. Through litigation, administrative petitions for rulemaking, and climate recovery ordinances, OCT supports youth advocating for science-based carbon emission reductions necessary to restore climate equilibrium on the planet.
Law clerks will directly support OCT’s legal efforts in local, state, federal, and/or international actions. Law clerks will have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, which could include assisting attorneys around the country and the world in their legal efforts; working with experts; conducting legal and evidentiary research; drafting legal memoranda; drafting, reviewing, and editing complaints, briefs, motions, discovery requests, and declarations; preparing for oral argument and trial; and assisting with document review. OCT relies heavily on law clerks for support, placing a premium on careful, accurate, and self-directed work.
Time Commitment:
Positions can be full time or part time and can be completed remotely or in our office in Eugene, Oregon. Preference will be given to students who can commit to working at least 10 hours per week during the Fall.
Compensation:
A Legal Clerkship is an unpaid volunteer opportunity.
Our Children’s Trust is willing to support law students in securing outside funding or academic credit for their work. OCT is an equal opportunity employer and committed to fostering diversity and inclusiveness among our staff and law clerks. People of color, women, LGBTQ+, and people of different faiths and national origin are encouraged to apply.
How to Apply:
Please complete our online application including:
- Resume
- Cover letter
- Short writing sample (no more than 7 pages) as an attachment to your cover letter.
- Copy of your transcript (unofficial OK)
- 3 references (at least one legal) with email addresses and phone numbers.
Application Deadlines:
We recruit for three sessions per year: Fall, Spring, Summer on a rolling basis.
Law Student Testimonials:
“Working at Our Children’s Trust is challenging, engaging, and most importantly, deeply meaningful. The work was incredibly varied, and each week brought unparalleled opportunities to learn about the legal process and develop practical skills. I don't think there is another legal internship where in just ten weeks I could have researched complex civil procedure questions, conducted document review, learned about the legal system of Sri Lanka, drafted a section of a brief to the Ninth Circuit, supported discovery efforts in preparation for trial, and more. The attorneys at Our Children’s Trust truly valued the law clerks and ensured that each assignment was meaningful to the case and our professional development alike.” ~1L, Georgetown University Law Center
“It’s so easy to wake up in the morning, hear some awful news about climate change, and then go about your day like the world is not on fire. At Our Children’s Trust, you get to wake up, hear the news, and then be a part of groundbreaking litigation that could go a long way towards putting out that fire. As a legal experience, this internship is second to none. Interns get a lot of responsibility from day one, and also the feedback and support necessary to learn. Any law student interested in impact environmental litigation should apply!” ~1L, Harvard Law School
“My clerkship at Our Children’s Trust was a truly rewarding experience. Over the course of the summer, I had the opportunity to work on substantive projects for both state and federal litigation. I am grateful for the interesting and challenging work that I was assigned, and my research and writing skills grew tremendously throughout the summer. The legal team at Our Children’s Trust is inclusive and dedicated to their clerks. I was always encouraged to take on projects that sparked my interest, and I felt supported in completing those projects. I couldn’t have asked for a better summer experience!” ~1L, University of Oregon School of Law
At Our Children’s Trust, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our Children’s Trust believes that diversity and inclusion is critical to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.
