Southeast Asia Legal Director – Chiang Mai
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http://earthrights.org
Job Title: Southeast Asia Legal Director, EarthRights International
Job Location:? Chiang Mai, Thailand
Application Deadline:? October 25, 2010
EarthRights International (ERI) seeks a highly qualified, committed attorney to develop, oversee and implement its legal activities in its Southeast Asia office in Chiang Mai, Thailand.? ERI?s Legal Program initiates and employs legal strategies to promote and protect earth rights and to hold corporations, governments and financial institutions accountable for their role in earth rights abuses.? The Southeast Asia Legal Director will be responsible for overall management and strategic direction of ERI?s legal activities in our Southeast Asia office.? S/he will coordinate and support existing legal activities as well as develop new programs and strategies in the future.? The Southeast Asia Legal Director will work together with EarthRights School staff and alumni to develop appropriate legal strategies for EarthRights School alumni, and with the Campaigns staff will work on legal strategies for campaign goals.? Where appropriate, the Southeast Asia Legal Director will conduct and support legal advocacy, litigation or quasi-litigation in regional international fora, performing legal analysis, research and writing.????
Job responsibilities
– Coordinate the Mekong Legal Advocacy Institute (MLAI):
– Oversee and implement semiannual meetings of a network of public interest human rights and environmental lawyers in the Mekong Region
-Coordinate and provide support for individual and collaborative projects of MLAI members and their organizations
Litigation and quasi-litigation:
– Cooperate with MLAI members, other organizations and lawyers in the region to develop and support new cases to remedy earth rights abuses in Southeast Asia and the Mekong Region
– Identify new legal fora and new sources of law to serve as bases for new legal strategies for protecting earth rights in Southeast Asia, especially the Mekong region, and develop and coordinate efforts to implement them.
– Supervise and carry forward ERI?s own cases in legal and quasi-legal fora to address earth rights abuses in Southeast Asia
Where appropriate, assist with ERI?s litigation and amicus briefs in United States litigation
Legal research/writing:
– Conceptualize legal publications and research and write reports, briefing papers, and legal manuals on relevant issues
– Work with other NGOs and networks, providing legal expertise to activists and local organizations
– As needed, assist in supervising law student interns, working with law school clinics, and developing curriculum materials to promote human rights and environmental legal education in the region
Legal advocacy and outreach:
– Engage in legal advocacy in regional and international fora, such as UN bodies
– Develop partnerships with other NGOs to advance advocacy goals
– Speak on behalf of ERI on legal issues to media, at conferences and meetings, with policy makers, and at appropriate bodies
Training:
– Assist ERI?s schools in developing and revising training materials on international law and legal advocacy, and teach on occasion
– Promote earth rights lawyering in the region by organizing trainings of law students, lawyers and judges as advised and requested by our networks and partners
Campaigning:
– Assist ERI?s campaigns in investigating and publicizing earth rights abuses, including helping to write publications, especially where relevant to ERI litigation and legal advocacy
Management, Administrative and fundraising:
– Provide overall management for the Southeast Asia Legal Program; develop and implement program goals and strategies in line with ERI?s mission and strategic plan
– Hire, manage and supervise staff and interns as the program develops and grows
– Assist with fundraising, including providing information about legal program activities to ERI?s development staff and to funders, and drafting portions of proposals and meeting with funders
– Develop and oversee Southeast Asia legal program budget, working with Managing Director and others to maintain fiscal health of the program.
– Along with ERI?s staff, help with collective administrative and office work duties where necessary
Qualifications:
The applicant must be an attorney, fluent in English, with at least 3-5 years of experience working on legal issues in Southeast Asia.? The applicant must excellent intercultural skills and experience working with multicultural teams.
Additionally, the ideal applicant will have:?
– Familiarity with legal issues that arise in the Mekong region, particularly the challenges and opportunities facing local and national lawyers, and regional trends and developments such as the Mekong Dams and the new ASEAN human rights mechanism (AICHR)
– Experience with regional and international bodies and processes relevant to the protection of human rights and the environment in Asia, such as the ADB, MRC, AICHR, and/or Mekong domestic legal systems
– Experience working with Mekong regional networks of NGOs, CBOs, academics and with diverse teams of lawyers, non-lawyers and grassroots activists.
– Demonstrated commitment to human rights and/or environmental protection and a deep understanding of their interrelationship
– Familiarity integrating legal and campaign strategies
– Experience working with and relating to indigenous peoples and threatened populations in the Mekong Region, especially concerning human rights, environmental degradation and development
– Excellent interpersonal and intercultural communication skills; excellent oral communication and ability to participate in public speaking events
– Excellent written communication, research, and organizational skills
– Interest, enthusiasm, and affinity for using the law as a vehicle for social change
– Ability to communicate in any of the Mekong languages a plus
– The successful applicant will work well in multicultural teams and with diverse constituencies. S/he will be self-motivated, work well under pressure and be able to handle several projects at one time. She will have good judgment and a sense of humor.?
Salary and benefits are commensurate with experience and competitive with like NGOs. ERI offers an informal, friendly work environment with highly committed staff.
To Apply:
Please send a cover letter summarizing what you would bring to this position and why you want to work with ERI, along with your resume, two writing samples (one legally-oriented and one nonlegal), and three references (at least two of which should be familiar with your legal experience). Email applications are highly preferred.? Send email applications by October 25th to legalsearch@earthrights.org
EarthRights International is an equal opportunity employer.
