Senior Staff Attorney

The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. The Animal Legal Defense Fund accomplishes this mission by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are held accountable for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, gathering data about and advocating for effective regulation of animal exploitative industries and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law.

What you’ll be doing

The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Litigation Program accomplishes the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission by filing strategic high-impact lawsuits against government agencies, individuals, and industries that exploit animals, including factory farms, puppy mills, and roadside zoos that seek to expand the protections for animals under the law.

You will report to Managing Attorney (Litigation Program).

You will be responsible for

• Act as lead counsel, and be responsible for all research, filings, and other aspects of litigation, for all assigned cases and projects.
• Research and develop novel legal theories and strategies, as well as fact patterns, for new cases.
• Manage drafting, editing, and submission of amicus curiae briefs on behalf of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
• Work with Communications and other departments to answer questions on civil legal issues and procedures, and to propose, draft, proof, and/or edit content on cases and legal developments.
• Coordinate, as needed, with other programs, including with Criminal Justice Program on cases that have, or could have, both civil and criminal components, Legislative Affairs Program, Animal Law Program, and Pro Bono Programs.
• Manage pro bono and local counsel on cases with external counsel.
• Prepare and deliver presentations for professional conferences, fundraising events, etc. when needed.
• Provide in-house expertise for staff on questions concerning Litigation Program cases, animal law civil cases in general and civil procedures and legal strategy.
• Perform other duties as assigned to advance the Litigation Program and the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s strategic objectives and mission.

• Senior Staff Attorney (Non-Supervisory) is a full-time, exempt position.
• This role is included in a collective bargaining unit that is represented by the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). Certain terms and conditions of your employment, including wages and benefits, have been negotiated with the Union and are included in a collective bargaining agreement between ALDF and the Union
• Occasional travel is required for this position (3-6 trips per year).
• Work is performed in a home office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment, software, and keyboards.

• Starting annual salary of $104,561 for most geographic locations.
• For candidates located within 25 miles of Washington D.C., Cotati, CA, and Los Angeles, starting pay is $110,064.
• For candidates located within 25 miles of New York City and San Francisco, starting pay is $115,568.

To ensure salary equity, we do not negotiate salary outside of the published starting rate. Rate is determined by role, using set geographical factors.

• Comprehensive health care, dental, life and vision benefits (100% employer paid);
  Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Dependent Care Account (DCA) are also available.
• 192 hours of PTO.
• 19 paid holidays.
• 1-month paid sabbatical after 5 years of continuous employment.
• 16 weeks paid parental leave.
• 401k plan with a maximum 5% employer contribution match after one year of employment.
• One time remote work allowance of $750.
• Annual professional development reimbursement of up to $1,000.

Maintaining a healthy work/life balance is a core value for the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

The Final date to receive applications for this position is February 26, 2026. Applications may be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage applicants to apply…