Lead Lawyer, Litigation in London

Location: United Kingdom - Candidates can work remotely with occasional travel to the office

Remuneration: £70,000 - £80,000

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-Time or Part-Time Pro Rata (5 or 4 days per week)

The Role

FILE is seeking a Lead Lawyer to support our strategy and grants teams in assessing the opportunities and risks associated with funding partners that may be involved with litigation. You will provide expert legal guidance internally, help shape FILE’s policies and processes, and act as a trusted advisor to colleagues making decisions about funding partners that may be engaged in litigation, with consideration of justice, equity and inclusion in how risks and opportunities are assessed. While FILE is not – and you will not be – actively or directly involved in litigation, your strategic insights will ensure FILE’s grant-making is responsible, effective, and aligned with our mission. You will also contribute to shaping FILE’s policies and processes in this area and act as a trusted advisor to colleagues across the organisation. In addition, you will engage with external partners to support broader sector understanding within philanthropy of funding partners that may be engaged in litigation. You will be supervised by the Regional Director (North America & Transnational Finance), however, your work will be global in scope and as such, you will have close working relationships with key colleagues across departments and geographies.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing clear, practical legal advice and strategic guidance to colleagues on opportunities, processes, and risks associated with funding partners engaged in litigation, including considering partners’ potential exposure to adverse costs and broader justice and equity implications
• Acting as a trusted sounding board to colleagues considering funding partners’ litigation-related work, to enable high-quality decision-making on relevant grants
• Contributing to the effective design and implementation of FILE’s policies and processes for managing risks associated with funding partners that may be engaged in litigation
• Supporting colleagues to apply these policies consistently and confidently in practice
• Building internal capability through training and guidance about risk and opportunities related to funding partners that may be engaged in litigation
• Working collaboratively and inclusively with colleagues across departments who bring diverse perspectives and complementary expertise, including from FILE’s legal, strategy and grants functions
• Supporting the development of sector-wide thinking within philanthropy about funding partners that may be engaged in litigation

About you

We know that long lists of criteria can be discouraging and that some candidates will not apply for a role unless they feel they meet all of the criteria. If you feel you meet at least some of the essential criteria, we still encourage you to apply. We also recognise that skills and experience can be gained in unexpected places, so we welcome applications from candidates who feel they have relevant skills for the role, gained from a wide range of professional, lived, and learned experiences.

Essential criteria

• Qualified lawyer (current or past) with litigation experience
• Strong understanding of strategic management of litigation procedures in civil and/or common law jurisdictions (with a strong preference for experience with litigation in common law jurisdictions)
• Skilled in assessing and managing complex legal and strategic risks
• Ability to provide clear and practical legal and strategic advice to non-legal audiences
• Strategic thinking, communication, and collaboration skills
• Demonstrated ability to apply justice, equity, diversity and inclusion principles in professional practice, including in decision-making, advising, or stakeholder engagement

About FILE

The Foundation for International Law for the Environment (FILE) is a not-for-profit philanthropic organisation working to accelerate legal action on climate change. Through grant-making and in-house legal expertise, we empower our partners to deliver strategic, innovative legal interventions and we support lawyers in their own countries to bring their own cases. Legal action can unlock the systemic changes in finance, policy and social systems needed to protect all of us from climate change. The power of the law is both direct (changing policy and practice) and indirect (signalling the wider shifts taking place across these systems). FILE is a ‘regrantor’ - this means we do not bring legal action in our own name. We receive grants from our philanthropic donors and make onwards grants to partners who align with FILE’s charitable aims and purposes. We do not seek to make any profit from our activities either in a relevant financial year or in the longer term.

Location

We are advertising this role for candidates based (and with the right to work) in the UK and in the Netherlands. Please note that you will see this role advertised in multiple locations but that we are only hiring for one position based in either location, and that we are able to offer collaborative working spaces only in the Netherlands and the UK. Please apply to the job post for your preferred location.

Working for FILE

FILE is a collaborative community of individuals who share a passion for climate, nature, and justice. We bring together knowledge and experience to support our mission. Our people are empowered to lead their work both individually and as part of a wider team in order to make impactful change. As a relatively young organisation with the ambitious mission to change global systems, our roles are ideally suited to those who are strategic, innovative and collaborative, and open to growing in line with the Foundation. FILE is committed to challenging systemic injustice. Our ability to do so is strengthened by the diversity of our partners and staff. Our mission, work and impact is global, with staff and partners from across the world and a range of lived experiences. We are actively working to create a culture where colleagues feel welcomed, heard and supported to succeed and thrive.

How FILE supports its staff

FILE is committed to creating a workplace that supports our staff to do their best work and develop professionally. FILE offers a generous annual leave policy and additional time-off work to support wellbeing. Amongst other benefits, FILE offers private healthcare, enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave, enhanced sick leave, flexibility working remotely and also abroad and a matching contribution to a pension scheme.

Applications

Please apply on our website and upload your CV. This role is open for applications immediately and we accept applications on a rolling basis. If you are interested, we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible. The role will remain open for three weeks from the date of advertisement until 3 June 2026.

Representation and Culture

FILE recognises the under-representation of historically marginalized communities and individuals in climate, nature and philanthropy spaces. We are committed to developing an organization that represents the world we are looking to protect and building a culture that supports such. In doing so, FILE is committed to building policies and practices that ensure no current or prospective employee is discriminated based on disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.