What is an environmental attorney and how to become one

Key steps to become an environmental attorney

1. Explore environmental attorney education requirements

   Most common environmental attorney degrees

   Bachelor's

   49.1 %

   Doctorate

   42.1 %

   Master's

   7.0 %

   Show more

2. Start to develop specific environmental attorney skills

   Skills	Percentages
   Litigation	33.39%
   Water ACT	15.46%
   Legal Services	12.38%
   Environmental Legal	11.85%
   Administrative Law	6.87%

   Show more

3. Complete relevant environmental attorney training and internships

   Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New environmental attorneys learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an environmental attorney based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real environmental attorney resumes.

4. Research environmental attorney duties and responsibilities

   • Participate in team preparing for ongoing large-scale environmental litigation.
   • Focuse primarily on air compliance and permitting, environmental litigation, cost recovery liability, and remediation negotiation and compliance.
   • Practice areas include CAA, CERCLA, CWA, EPCRA, RCRA, TSCA, and OSHA.
   • Oversee the development of EHS compliance audit protocols for clients such as paint coating operations, salvage yards, and POTWs.

5. Apply for environmental attorney jobs

   Now it's time to start searching for an environmental attorney job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

   1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
   2. Consult your professional network
   3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
   4. Watch out for job scams