Overview: Center for Food Safety (CFS), the nation’s leading public interest organization devoted to legal advocacy in food law and sustainable agriculture, is seeking applications for a staff attorney position in its Hawai‘i office. Center for Food Safety (CFS) is the nation’s leading nonprofit public interest and environmental advocacy organization that addresses the impacts of the industrial food production system on human health, animal welfare, and the environment. In addition to our Honolulu office, CFS also has offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, California, and Portland Oregon. CFS represents over 500,000 farmer and consumer members nationwide. CFS works to achieve its goals through litigation, legislation, scientific reports, public education, grassroots campaigns, market pressure, and media outreach. CFS’s legal team manages an active docket of impact litigation and high-profile cases on issues related to genetic engineering, factory farms, food safety and food labeling, pollinators, pesticides, organics, aquaculture, soil and climate, seed diversity, and nanotechnology.

Position Description: The Legal Fellowship is a paid, one-year appointment, with the possibility of an additional year if both parties agree. The Legal Fellow will be primarily based in the Hawaii office, with the possibility of short-term travels and training to our San Francisco, California or Portland, Oregon offices to work alongside the legal team on litigation in federal and state court, including appeals courts. The Legal Fellow’s tasks will include, but not limited to: performing legal research, investigating and developing cases, drafting pleadings, participating in discovery, and supporting the legal team as needed through all stages of litigation. The Legal Fellow will also participate in CFS’s policy and legislative initiatives by, among other things, submitting rulemaking petitions and comments to federal and state agencies and assisting in drafting state and federal legislation and local ordinances.

Qualifications: CFS is seeking motivated recent law school graduates interested in doing meaningful litigation and policy work on behalf of the public and the environment. The fellowship is open to students who graduated law school in 2014 or 2015, or who will graduate in 2016, including those completing judicial clerkships. The ideal candidate would have:

• an interest in and experience with administrative and environmental law or another relevant area (including relevant coursework);
• demonstrated commitment to practicing public interest environmental law or food and agriculture law;
• excellent legal research, writing, and communication skills;
  self-motivation and the ability to work independently;
• a willingness to work closely with others and perform administrative tasks in a small, team‑oriented office environment; and
• timely admission to the Hawai‘i bar.

To Apply: Please email a cover letter, resume, list of three references (two may be from law school; one must be a legal employment supervisor), and non-academic writing sample to clerkships@centerforfoodsafety.org. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis.

CFS is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, nationality, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.

CFS salaries are competitive and based on experience, and include a strong benefits package.