Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who are the Sierra Club's lawyers?

A: The Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program has a staff of 15 lawyers and professional support staff in San Francisco, CA, Boulder, CO, Madison, WI and Washington, D.C. Our legal team develops high profile lawsuits that advance the Club's conservation priorities, and also manages the enormous nationwide docket of the Sierra Club. They serve as the nerve center for the Sierra Club's nationwide legal strategies.

Q: What particular environmental problems are your priority in 2006?

A: The Environmental Law Program prioritizes the Sierra Club's national grassroots campaigns. These nationwide campaigns currently include the Club's three Conservation Initiatives, which are Smart Energy Solutions, Safe and Healthy Communities, and America's Wild Legacy. We work with these Conservation Initiatives towards specific action objectives, such as promoting clean electricity; stopping the rush to build new coal plants and cleaning up existing polluting plants; preventing energy production on sensitive lands and waters; protecting our waterways from sewage, wetlands destruction, and other threats; protecting wildlife and habitats; and safeguarding wild and special places.

Q: What is the difference between the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and Earthjustice?

A: The Environmental Law Program is the Sierra Club's team of in-house environmental lawyers. It consists of fourteen attorneys and professional staff who prosecute strategic litigation for the Club's nationwide grassroots campaigns and direct the entire docket of nationwide Sierra Club litigation. The "Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund" was an independent, nonprofit law firm started by Club leaders and others in the 1970s.

Reflecting its independent status, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund changed its name to Earthjustice in 1997. Earthjustice frequently represents the Sierra Club in litigation and is one of the Club's most valued outside counsel. See www.earthjustice.org for more information.

Q: Do you have internship programs?

A: Yes. We have summer internship and semester externship programs in the San Francisco office for law students.

Q: Where are your offices?

The Sierra Club Environmental Law Program is located at:
85 Second Street, Second Floor
San Francisco, California, 94105
phone: (415) 977- 5772
fax: (415) 977-5793 fax
email: environmental.law@sierraclub.org

Q: How do I find out more?

A: E-mail us environmental.law@sierraclub.org.