Just Transition Lawyering Network

Taproot Earth is building a network of practicing attorneys and legal workers committed to supporting Black-, Brown-, and Indigenous communities and movements leading us toward climate justice and a just transition from extractive systems to an equitable economy and democracy.

Our
vision
in action

The Just Transition Lawyering Network will build power, shift resources, and engage in systemic change for climate justice and a just transition. The vision of JTLN emerges from the legacy of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy and builds on Taproot Earth’s partnerships in creating the Just Transition Lawyering Institute (JTLI).

This Formation will build the infrastructure for a values-aligned community of attorneys and scholars who are committed to Black-, Brown-, and Indigenous-led frontline movements. For the launch of JTLN, several lawyers have shared their insights on just transition lawyering. Hear their responses by clicking the questions below.

Our common purpose

The Network will provide space for legal practitioners and scholars to:

Our
points of
connection

You are a licensed attorney, a law professor, or a law-trained individual applying that learning to a different field.(We look forward to creating opportunities for law student engagement in the future.)
You are actively responding to the impacts of the climate crisis on your clients, your community, and your engagement with law and policy — or you are beginning to recognize that your field and every legal field will be touched by the climate crisis, if it has not been already.
You understand that movements lead to transformative change and that lawyers need to support those movements.
You are curious, imaginative, and willing to learn from and with the people around you.
You strive toward lawyering practices that honor the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, including:
Understanding client and community needs and centering their voices so that lawyers come in as needed.
Utilizing the tools of the law to advance community visions and larger movement strategies.
Translating and breaking down law and policy language so it is accessible for broader audiences.
Translating and breaking down law and policy language so it is accessible for broader audiences.
Being mindful of the power that comes with a law degree.
Understanding layers of injustice & role of historic trauma experienced by frontline communities with which we are working.
Passing the mic and facilitating access to power.
You strive toward lawyering practices that honor the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, including:

resources

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