Greenfire Law, PC

Practice Areas

Greenfire Law attorneys litigate to protect environmental rights on behalf of nonprofit organizations, communities, and workers.

Environmental Law

Environmental Law

The firm’s environmental practice includes litigation and counseling on environmental, climate change, and natural resource management.

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Our attorneys have a strong understanding of major environmental statues and regulatory programs and exemplary litigation experience bringing environmental enforcement actions on behalf of citizens, including in the areas of state and federal environmental law in all media, climate change, natural resource management, and environmental policy. The firm’s depth of knowledge with complex environmental laws includes working with the National Environmental Policy Act, California Environmental Quality Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, California Coastal Act, and California’s Proposition 65 (Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act), among others.

Land Use Law

Land Use Law

Land use and zoning law is the regulation of the use and development of public and private real estate.

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Zoning is the most common form of land-use regulation, used by municipalities to control local property development. Other legal issues pertaining to land use include easements, trespassing, and eminent domain. Our firm helps individuals and citizen groups navigate the complex statutory and local regulatory schemes involved when local governments consider development projects in their jurisdictions. We have counseled clients in local cannabis regulation and control, securing permits for the construction of accessory dwelling units, ensuring a developer’s compliance with local affordable housing requirements, and objecting to development projects that fail to comply with state and local law..

Animal Law

Animal Law

Simply defined, animal law is the combination of statutory and case law that relates to or has an impact on nonhuman animals.

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Our attorneys have a strong understanding of the timelines the goverment musIt encompasses companion animals and wildlife as well as animals used in entertainment, research, or raised for food. Animal law permeates and affects most traditional areas of the law—including tort, food safety, consumer protection, contract, constitutional, family, environmental, administrative, and criminal law. In practice, our attorneys work diligently to identify opportunities to advance the interests of animals in the law through policy or litigation using myriad statutory and common law schemes, including the Endangered Species Act, Administrative Procedures Act, public nuisance law, and the public trust doctrine.

Public Records & Open Government

Public Records & Open Government

All 50 states and the federal government have public records laws which allow members of the public to obtain documents and other public records from state and local government bodies.

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The firm’s public records practice includes counseling clients through the records request process, with advice on crafting targeted requests, seeking fee waivers, filing and prosecuting administrative appeals, and litigation when necessary.

Telecommunications Law

Telecommunications Law

Telecommunications law pertains to the systems of electronic communications and broadcasting across the United States.

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This area is heavily regulated by federal law and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). We represent citizens and non-profit groups interested in strengthening local control over telecommunications regulation. Through litigation and legislative assistance, we ensure public participation to the maximum extent possible under federal law when local governments are forced to deploy small cell wireless technology, known as 5G or Fifth Generation wireless infrastructure, in their cities and counties.

Attorneys

At Greenfire Law, PC, you reach a team of skilled lawyers whose educational and professional backgrounds make us uniquely qualified to provide strategic legal counsel at an affordable rate.

Rachel S. Doughty, Founder and Shareholder

Rachel primarily practices environmental and land use law. Her practice includes advising clients and litigating under public land management and environmental statutes and the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. She also practices in the realm of product safety, primarily under California’s Proposition 65. Finally, she helps clients gain access to information using FOIA and California’s Public Records Act and assists with legislative and regulatory drafting from time to time.

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Rachel S. Doughty

Notable cases include successfully suing Amazon.com for offering on its website skin lightening creams containing very high levels of mercury, establishing that Amazon is not shielded by the Communications Decency Act from state health and safety regulation. She also established in a proceeding before California’s Water Resources Control Board that the owners of Arrowhead Natural Spring Water were taking water from National Forest lands to which they had no right, and that completely dewatering a spring before it emerges at the surface does not remove the Water Board’s jurisdiction over that water. Finally, Ms. Doughty was part of the legal team that established that prisoners have a Constitutional right to daily exposure to direct sunlight.

Before Greenfire Law, Rachel worked at Paul Hastings, LLP, Gary Davis and Associates, and Wild Law. She earned her law degree from University of Virginia and also has an M.S. in Natural Resources (with a minor concentration in biogeochemistry) from Cornell University, and a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Tennessee. Prior to law school, she was a fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Wetlands Division.

In addition to her work as a litigator, Rachel is a public speaker and policy advocate in the areas of plastic pollution reduction, California’s Proposition 65, and forest management.

Experience

  • Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP
  • Gary A. Davis & Associates
  • Wild Law
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Education

  • J.D., University of Virginia
  • M.S., Cornell University, Natural Resources
  • B.S., University of Tennessee, Biochemistry

Activities & Affiliations

  • City of Berkeley Zero Waste Commission
  • Sylvia Mendez School, Green Team Lead

Awards & Recognition

  • 2023-2024 California Super Lawyer
  • 2022 The Daily Journal CLAY Award
  • 2022 The Daily Journal Top Verdict Award

Bar Admissions

  • State of California
  • State of North Carolina (Inactive)
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
  • U.S. District Court Washington, D.C.

Jessica L. Blome, Shareholder

Jessica is an animal, environmental, open government, and land use attorney with nearly two decades of experience in complex litigation. Jessica represents a wide range of clients from individuals to grassroots organizations to national non-profit organizations. Her practice focuses on high stakes matters that advance the status of animals, protect wildlife, or conserve the environment under state, federal, and tribal law.

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Jessica L. Blome

Before Greenfire Law, Jessica worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Missouri Attorney General’s Agriculture & Environment Division, Senior Staff Attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Deputy Director of the San Francisco Ethics Commission.

For the Missouri Attorney General, Jessica represented the Missouri Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture in civil environmental, animal welfare, and food safety litigation. She served as counsel to the Missouri Natural Resources Trustee, leading negotiations on behalf of Missouri for multi-million-dollar restoration projects on public lands contaminated by heavy metals mining. She also prosecuted violations of the state Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Clean Air Act. Her most notable cases involved an unpermitted organic composting operation located next to a sensitive geologic area, a collapsed wastewater treatment impoundment, and a landfill located in a residential area suffering from a “subsurface smoldering event,” or underground landfill fire.

Jessica left Missouri for Sonoma County, California in 2013 to accept a position as a Senior Staff Attorney with the non-profit Animal Legal Defense Fund. There, she represented citizen plaintiffs and non-profit groups in strategic impact litigation on behalf of domestic animals and wildlife. She led a team of litigators to victory against a roadside zoo in Iowa, securing the first-ever successful citizen prosecution of Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act against the owner of captive-held endangered species. Jessica also led a coalition of non-profit groups in the first-ever lawsuit striking down a federal contract with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services because it violated CEQA.

In 2016, Jessica became the Deputy Director of the San Francisco Ethics Commission, where she was responsible for the investigation and enforcement of the City’s campaign finance, government ethics, lobbying, and conflict of interest laws.

Jessica joined Greenfire Law in March 2018. She now represents public interest clients in environmental and animal welfare litigation. In 2019, she served as lead counsel in an Iowa state-court nuisance action that permanently shut down a roadside zoo. She is litigating an action against the City of Livermore for failing to adequately assess whether the City should use environmental mitigation funds to conserve sensitive alkaline wetland habitat, rather than develop it.

Experience

  • San Francisco Ethics Commission
  • Animal Legal Defense Fund
  • Missouri Attorney General’s Office

Education

  • J.D., University of Iowa College of Law
  • B.A., University of Northern Iowa, Communications & Ethics

Activities & Affiliations

  • Missouri Bar, Environmental & Energy Law Committee
  • California Bar Association, Public Law Group
  • Alameda County Bar Association
  • City of Berkeley Campaign Finance Commission
  • City of Berkeley Open Government Commission
  • Rosa Parks Elementary School Read-a-Thon Committee
  • Animal Place, Board Member

Awards & Recognition

  • 2023 Minnesota Lawyer Attorney of the Year (Group)
  • 2022 The Daily Journal California Lawyer’s Association Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award
  • 2022 The Daily Journal Top Verdict Award
  • California Super Lawyer
  • Missouri Up & Coming Lawyer Award
  • Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation Special Recognition
  • Missouri Attorney General’s Litigate Like a Champion Award
  • Missouri Attorney General’s Award for Extraordinary Contribution
  • Missouri Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Client Service

Bar Admissions

  • State of California
  • State of Missouri
  • Supreme Court of Missouri
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court of the Western District of Missouri
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Supreme Court of the United States

Rae Lovko, Senior Associate

Rae practices in the areas of environmental, land use, and animal law. Her experience includes litigating complex civil cases, handling law and motion matters, and conducting trials. She represents a wide range of clients facing harm from environmental toxins and industrial pollution.

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Rae Lovko

Before joining Greenfire Law, Rae worked at Lovko & King, LLP and Paul, Hanley, & Harley, LLP. She earned her law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law, where she graduated as valedictorian, and also has an M.A. from the College of William & Mary. Prior to law school, Rae worked for the Florida Supreme Court's Office of the State Courts Administrator (OSCA).

In addition to her work as a litigator, Rae has taught legal writing and research for the University of California, Berkeley Law LL.M. Program and created and taught MCLE courses on legal ethics. She has co-authored/edited several CEB (Continuing Education of the Bar) legal resources.

Experience

  • Lovko & King, LLP
  • Paul, Hanley, & Harley LLP
  • Florida Supreme Court's OSCA

Education

  • J.D., Golden Gate University School of Law
  • M.A., College of William & Mary
  • B.S., Old Dominion University

Bar Admission

  • State of California
  • State of Georgia

Susann M. Bradford, Associate

Susann’s work includes environmental, land use, and water law. She represents citizens and organizations facing harm from poorly planned developments and industrial pollution.

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Susann M. Bradford

Before joining Greenfire Law, Susann was a Graduate Fellow at the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University where she focused on environmental justice and public interest law. Susann represented community and public interest organizations in water quality litigation before the California Court of Appeals and advocated for marginalized communities of color by developing CEQA, Clean Air Act, and Title VI complaints. Prior to this, Susann was a law clerk for Earthjustice and interned at the City Attorney of San Francisco’s Office in the Energy Division.

During Law School Susann served as Editor in Chief of the Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal, volunteered for the California Water Law Symposium, and competed in the 2020 National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. Susann is also a Doctor of Education and taught community college at The University of Montana for ten years prior to Law School. Before that she earned a master’s degree in environmental studies and worked on projects in the nonprofit sector as an advocate for ecological restoration, biodiversity preservation, and inclusive decision-making.

Experience

  • Alameda County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section Executive Committee (2024)
  • Environmental Law and Justice Clinic
  • Earthjustice, California Regional Office
  • City Attorney of San Francisco, Energy Division

Education

  • J.D., Golden Gate University School of Law
  • Ed.D., University of Montana, Curriculum & Instruction
  • M.S., University of Montana, Environmental Studies
  • B.A., St. John’s College, Santa Fe

Awards & Recognition

  • Alameda County Bar Association
  • San Francisco Bar Association
  • Queen’s Bench Bar Association
  • California Women Lawyers
  • St. John’s College Alumni Association

Bar Admission

  • State of California

Lily A. Rivo, Associate

Lily’s work primarily focuses on environmental, land use, and animal law. Her current projects include assisting clients with claims under the state open government laws, civil enforcement statutes, and state and federal environmental laws.

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Lily A. Rivo

Before joining Greenfire Law, Lily worked at the Department of Justice, representing the State of California and its employees in civil litigation before California state and federal courts, including the Northern District of California and the Eastern District of California. Lily also worked in an environmental and land use firm, focusing on USTs as well as pollution and contamination matters. Recently, Lily founded a legal writing business to provide content and legal articles for practitioners across a variety of practice areas. Lily performs pro bono work for the San Francisco Justice and Diversity Clinic Center and has provided legal services for Marin Legal Aid.

During law school, Lily served as an extern for Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero and taught legal writing and research. She wrote for the Communications and Entertainment Law Journal and interned at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and California Lawyers for the Arts, a nonprofit providing legal assistance to the creative community.

Experience

  • Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General
  • Justia
  • California Lawyers for the Arts
  • San Francisco District Attorney Office

Education

  • J.D., University California San Francisco
  • B.A., University California, San Diego

Activities & Affiliations

  • San Francisco Justice and Diversity Center
  • Marin Legal Aid
  • Marin County Boys Team Charity, Newsletter Editor

Richard A. Brody, Of Counsel

Richard "Rick" Brody practices in the areas of complex civil litigation, products liability, environmental and land use law. His experience includes trial, law and motion, settlement negotiations, appellate practice, and bankruptcy.

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Richard A. Brody

Rick was co-counsel of record in six published opinions, including two opinions issued by the California Supreme Court. He has extensive experience prosecuting and managing multi-party litigation.

Community service is important to Rick. He has served as a commissioner on the City of Sebastopol Planning Commission and the City of Rohnert Park Rent Appeals Board. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Gravenstein Unified School District Magnet Program Foundation and the Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce.

Experience

  • Shingler Law
  • Brent Coon & Associates
  • The Wartnick Law Firm
  • Casey, Gerry, Reed & Schenk
  • Brayton Purcell

Education

  • J.D., U.C.L.A. School of Law
  • B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz, Religious Studies

Activities & Affiliations

  • Consumer Attorneys of California
  • Sonoma County Bar Association Intellectual Property and Technology Law Section (1997 to 1998), Fee Arbitrator (1993)
  • Sonoma County Superior Court, Judge Pro Tem, Settlement Conference Program (2002 to 2004)
  • Marin County Superior Court, Judge Pro Tem, Settlement Conference Program (1997)
  • City of Sebastopol Planning Commission, Commissioner (1999 to 2003), Chairperson (2002-2003)
  • Street Smart Sebastopol Committee (2000 to 2003), Street Smart Sebastopol Symposium, Participant (2000), Sebastopol Commons, Participant (1999)
  • Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce (1998 to 2015)
  • City of Rohnert Park Rent Appeals Board, Commissioner (1991 to 1995), Chairperson (1993 to 1994)
  • Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors (1996 to 1998), Governmental Affairs Committee (1996 to 1997)
  • Leadership Rohnert Park, Chairperson (1996 to 1998), Graduate (1993), Coordinator, History and Government Day (1996); Transportation, Public Safety and Criminal Justice Day (1994)
  • Leadership Rohnert Park Alumni Association, Vice-Chairperson (1995 to 1996)
  • Rohnert Park Community Summit, Participant (1997)
  • Gravenstein Unified School District, Magnet Program Foundation, Board of Directors (2016-2019)
  • Featured Speaker, West Coast Asbestos Litigation Crash Course Seminar (HB Litigation Courses), Effective Deposition Practices, December 7, 2010
  • Moderator, A.M. Rohnert Park Candidates and Issues Forum (November 2000)
  • Guest speaker, Year 2000 Legal Issues, Intellectual Property and Legal Issues for Graphic Artists

Bar Admission

  • State of California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Ariel Strauss, Of Counsel

Ariel is an experienced public law and real estate attorney. Ariel represents community groups and individuals in connection with land use entitlements, California Public Utility Commission regulatory proceedings, and wireless facility siting and policy issues.

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Ariel Strauss

Ariel previously assisted owners, operators, and lenders navigate HUD regulations and close over $500m in affordable, elderly, Section 8, and multifamily real estate transactions. Ariel also served as assistant general and special counsel to several cities and districts in the areas of municipal law, real estate, zoning and public contracting. In 2014, Ariel clerked for Justice Uzi Vogelman of the Supreme Court of Israel and during law school externed for Judge Kim M. Wardlaw of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Experience

  • Small Business Utility Advocates
  • Levy, Levy & Levy, P.C.
  • Justice Uzi Vogelman, Supreme Court of Israel
  • Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson, P.L.C.
  • Integrated Recovery Network
  • Los Angeles City Attorney, Airports Division
  • Los Angeles County Counsel, Real Property Division
  • Judge Kim M. Wardlaw, U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Education

  • J.D., UCLA School of Law
  • M.A., UCLA School of Public Affairs, Urban Planning
  • B.A., Brandeis University

Bar Admission

  • State of California
  • State of New York
  • State of Washington

Staff

Donna Wallace, Senior Paralegal

Donna is a Senior Paralegal at Greenfire Law.

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Donna Wallace

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Donna lived in Boston and New York before moving to the Bay Area. Donna holds a Bachelor of Art’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Communications Management. After many years in global market research, she decided to move into the legal field and completed her Paralegal Certificate with High Honors from the ABA-approved program at San Francisco State University.

Donna has worked on both the defense and plaintiff’s side and was recently focused on employment law matters. Her passion for the environment brought her to Greenfire where she is delighted to be working on many issues that matter most to her, such as plastic pollution, environmental health, and animal welfare.


Carla Barraez, Executive Assistant

Carla is a remote administrative assistant at Greenfire Law. Her work involves business administration as well as general firm management.

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Carla Barraez

Carla holds a BA in Photography and a Minor in Art History from Florida International University. Carla has worked in a variety of fields she's passionate about including education, film, and law. Her main area of environmental concern is ocean conservation and is passionate about policy that protects the ocean from pollutants like plastic. She is aiming to earn an MA in Global Affairs.


Nuria de la Fuente, Office Manager

Born in Mexico, Nuria is a long-time Berkeley resident who values multicultural diversity and is a fluid Spanish/English speaker.

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Nuria de la Fuente

Nuria has many years of experience working for the City of Berkeley Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department in different capacities. She was also an Environmental Sciences and Resource Management major at Contra Costa Community College with a special interest in mycoremediation.

Nuria is passionate about preserving our environment and takes a hands-on approach to environmental stewardship through community education and involvement. She currently enjoys taking a lead role volunteering for a local school's "Green Team" where she has been helping to implement a zero-waste policy and environmental curriculum.


Karishma Goswami, Student Clerk

Karishma is a freshman at University of California Berkeley studying Society and Environment with a minor in Public Policy.

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Karishma Goswami

Karishma is a Networking Director for Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity, a researcher in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and former intern for the Department of Homeland Security in the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Branch. She's pursuing a career in environmental law, and is especially interested in land use management and the incorporation of Indigenous land stewardship practices in legislation.



About Us

Greenfire Law was created to provide the highest quality legal representation to assist our clients in advancing matters of important public policy. The firm’s lawyers hail from prominent national law firms, government agencies, and respected advocacy groups, combining decades of top-level litigation and transactional experience with an unwavering dedication to the firm’s clients and to advancing their causes.

Our ethic of respecting the wisdom and mystery of the natural world is the driving force behind Greenfire Law’s work. The great Aldo Leopold, upon turning away from his job as a trapper for the federal government, once observed:

We reached the old wolf in time to watch  a fierce green fire  dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.

— Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Greenfire in the News

"2023 Attorneys of the Year: E. Phillips Neighborhood Inst. v. City of Minneapolis"
Minnesota Lawyer

"Wildlife advocacy group sues Wisconsin DNR over 2023 wolf management plan"
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Utah’s mountain lions could vanish in three years, lawsuit claims"
The Salt Lake Tribune

"S.F. must allow people held in San Bruno jail time outdoors, judge rules"
San Francisco Chronicle

"California orders bottled water company to stop ‘unauthorized’ piping from springs"
Los Angeles Times

"Drone video allegedly captures shocking animal abuse at Chicago area rodeos, sparking lawsuit"
Fox 32 Chicago

"Contra Costa County judge blocks 125-home Tassajara Valley project over water supply concerns"
The Mercury News

"Top Verdicts: Lee V Amazon.com"
Daily Journal

"District court issues 11th-hour temporary injunction on Roof Depot demolition"
Star Tribune

"Judge revives limits on wolf killing near Yellowstone park"
Miami Herald

"The fight to stop Republicans from killing wolves and grizzlies"
The Intercept

"Wildlife Advocates Score a Victory in Plumas and Sierra Counties in Restricting USDA's 'Wildlife Services' Killing Program"
Sierra Booster

Courts must "show why they aren't instead using available funds to preserve land for plants and animals"
San Francisco Chronicle

"Plastic pollution policy: California leads, but the crisis requires national and international action"
American Bar Association Trends

"Judge issues injunction blocking Wisconsin fall wolf hunt."
AP News

"Appeals court sides with judge who ordered animals rescued from Cricket Hollow Zoo."
Des Moines Register

"Court Rejects USDA’s Attempt to Kill Lawsuit Challenging Weakened Pig-Slaughter Rules."
The Center for Biological Diversity

"Cannabis in Mendocino County: Planning Commission hears from the public."
The Willits News

"Groundbreaking Court Case Argues U.S. Climate Denial Policy Violates Americans’ Right to Be Free."
EcoWatch

Featured Clients

Careers

Greenfire is looking to hire an Associate Attorney with a minimum of 4 years of litigation experience in California.

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Job Description: Greenfire Law, PC is a public interest law firm handling litigation and policy work on behalf of citizen plaintiffs or non-profit groups specializing in environmental law, animal law, land use, open government, and telecommunications. Though located in Berkeley, California, we regularly litigate state and federal court cases and administrative proceedings in California and across the United States. We are seeking an associate attorney with a minimum of four years of litigation experience in California for immediate hire. The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic about the opportunity to work for a small firm, which provides a certain level of independence. Candidates should be mature enough to work independently but also ask for help when needed.

Responsibilities

  • Develop new cases in close collaboration with citizen and non-profit clients, which include responsibility to conduct factual investigations; develop legal theories; draft pleadings and briefs; and otherwise manage new and existing cases in state or federal courts and administrative agencies.
  • Assist in representation of clients in complex cases involving the full range of litigation tasks, including factual investigation, legal research, discovery, briefing, witness preparation, trials, and oral advocacy, and otherwise manage new and existing cases in state or federal courts and administrative tribunals from beginning to end.
  • Collaborate in team problem solving, litigation strategy, project management and trial work.
  • Supervise the work of fellows, interns, and litigation assistants
  • Cultivate new allies and engage in partnerships with, and representation of, community groups, workers, organizations, coalitions, and others.
  • Support and contribute to a positive, respectful, supportive, and collegial work environment.
  • Participate in training and professional development opportunities appropriate to the role and the organization.

Qualifications

  • Admitted to the Bar of the State of California with at least four years of experience litigating cases, one or more of which can include clerkship experience.
  • Willing and able to work in Berkeley, though remote applicants will be considered.
  • Attorneys with substantial litigation experience and the ability to litigate cases from beginning to end, independently if necessary are also welcome to apply. We expect that in most cases a candidate meeting this requirement would have at least six years litigation experience, but candidates with fewer years of experience are welcome to apply so long as they meet this functional requirement.
  • Excellent litigation skills, including legal research, writing, analytical, and oral advocacy skills.
  • Ability to manage a litigation docket effectively, including ability to work independently and to prioritize tasks and deadlines.
  • Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work well collegially both inside and outside the organization.
  • Ability to work independently and in collaboration with client partners and in leading a litigation team.
  • Strong and demonstrated initiative, good judgment, creativity, flexibility, and work ethic.
  • Ability and willingness to travel as needed, including for case work, court appearances, and meetings with clients and partners.
  • Commitment to serving the public interest and a passion for the role of public interest litigation in the environmental movement.
  • An ability and commitment to help create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work culture that encourages and celebrates differences.
  • Willingness and ability to effectively supervise and mentor early career staff in connection with litigation and advocacy projects, and to help foster an inclusive and nurturing work environment.

Compensation: Salary within the range of $90,000 to $150,000 and includes payment of bar dues and CLE allowance. The firm offers health insurance and a retirement plan.

Applications submitted through recruiters will not be considered.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to us at administrative@greenfirelaw.com and include “Associate Position Applicant” in the subject of the email. Please be prepared to provide a writing sample and references upon request.


Greenfire is looking to hire a current law students seeking experience in animal law and environmental law as 2024 Summer Law Clerk.

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The Greenfire Law Summer Clerkship is a paid, full-time employment position designed for a current law student seeking experience in animal law and environmental law. The law clerk will work in-person at our law office in Berkeley, California.

Job Description: This clerkship is housed within Greenfire Law, PC, a public interest law firm committed to providing high quality legal representation to clients advancing matters of important public policy. Our attorneys handle litigation and policy work on behalf of citizen plaintiffs, non-profit organizations, and communities. We specialize in environmental law, animal law, land use law, and open government. Our office is in Berkeley, California, near the Ashby BART station. Law clerks will conduct legal research, prepare a variety of written work products, and assist attorneys in responding to client needs for representation in a variety of matters, including animal law, environmental, and land use matters. Certain assignments will respond to the needs of immediate and open cases, such as pending litigation in state or federal court, both in California and in other states. Other assignments may involve more long-term projects to examine and develop legal strategy to address emerging issues in environmental or animal law.

Objectives: The clerkship is an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in animal law and environmental law and develop practical legal skills by working on active cases alongside Greenfire Law’s associate attorneys and shareholders. Law clerks will receive training and feedback. They will work with Greenfire Law attorneys on a variety projects, including at least one long-term project that will culminate in a work product such as a writing sample. As a member of our team, the law clerk will have the opportunity to attend networking events and participate in social events with Greenfire Law staff and attorneys throughout the summer.

The law clerk will be expected to maintain high standards of professional responsibility. While specific responsibilities may vary by project, a successful candidate will be able to work independently or collaborate, as needed, and communicate effectively concerning work products and timelines. Law clerks will be encouraged to participate in scheduled networking and engagement activities. Additional responsibilities will be discussed during interviews.

Reports to: Supervising attorneys, including associate attorneys, shareholders.

Employment Status: Full-time, temporary (10 weeks, beginning in May or June).

Requirements

  • Rising 3L or LLM student at an ABA accredited law school.
  • Eligible to work in the United States.
  • Can arrange their own housing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • Interest and desire to advocate on behalf of animals and the environment.
  • Superior legal research and writing skills.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Willingness and capability to collaborate with others in a small, team environment.
  • Flexibility, commitment to organization and time-management.
  • Ability to work independently, and to ask questions as needed.

Compensation and Benefits

  • $20/hour
  • Paid holidays (i.e., Memorial Day, Fourth of July)

How to Apply: Please combine the following materials into one PDF and submit to administrative@greenfirelaw.com.

  • Cover letter
  • A current resume including 2-3 professional references
  • Law school transcript (unofficial is okay)
  • An original writing sample of no more than 10 pages

Interested candidates should apply by January 8, 2024. Interviews will begin the week of January 15, 2024.

Application packets should be submitted via email attachment to administrative@greenfirelaw.com; please include “Summer Law Clerkship Application” in the subject line.

Questions may be directed to Lily Rivo at lrivo@greenfirelaw.com.


Greenfire Law, PC
P.O. Box 8055
Berkeley CA 94707

510.900.9502
administrative@greenfirelaw.com