New Matter Form for Activists

Subject:

Chapter and/or other Club entity sponsor(s):

Prepared by:

Date submitted to Environmental Law Program:

Date requesting approval by:

(Approval typically takes 3–4 weeks. If approval is needed earlier, please explain why, including any applicable statute of limitations or other relevant considerations.We also strongly encourage you to call an Environmental Law Program attorney for advice.)

  1. Descriptive Memo

This is the single most important part of the new matter form. Please attach a descriptive memo describing the factual and legal background of the proposed case. It’s often helpful to have the lawyer who will represent the Club review the New Matter Formbefore submitting it to Environmental Law Program staff.In the descriptive memo be sure to include, at a minimum, the following information:

(1)A statement of the problem, including, for example, a description of the land or resource at issue, the regulatory background, and the environmental harm we’re trying to prevent.

(2)A statement of the ultimate environmental goals we’re trying achieve, as well as the specific legal goals of the litigation.

(3)An outline of the applicable law and the legal theories (please attach a draft complaint or legal memorandum, if available, but do not omit this section from your narrative; it is often helpful to have the lawyer who will represent the Club prepare this section, unless a draft complaint or legal memo is provided).

(4)Environmental activism can greatly benefit and enrich the movement by collaborating with, and supporting, low-income and people of color communities. If the project or litigation will impact an Environmental Justice community or Indian tribe, please fully describe these potential impacts and any outreach to the affected community, including any communication with Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizers.

(5)The Sierra Club has long sought to broaden the environmental movement by forming strategic partnerships with non-traditional allies, including unions. The Clubhas worked to promote union jobs in “green” industries andis a founding member of the BlueGreen Alliance, a major institutional collaboration between the labor and environmental movements. Please describe how the proposed legal action may affect—positively or negatively—the Sierra Club's relationship with organized labor. For a variety of reasons, it is critical to reach out to unions prior to initiating a legal action that may involve labor interests. As one example, engaging the Club’s labor partners in a legal action challenging a facility whose employees are represented by a union can assist in leveraging the Club’s position in a potential settlement of a legal action. If the chapter has not engaged the relevant unions, it is important to contact the Club’s national labor liaison to facilitate this outreach; please contact the Environmental Law Program attorney assisting you with the new matter form for advice.

  1. History of Sierra Club Organizing on this Issue

Litigation is most effective when connected to a robust organizing campaign, and this section will help us put the proposed litigation in the proper context for Club decision-makers. Please describe all related chapter (or Group, Campaign, etc.) organizing, such as prior lawsuits and the outcome of that litigation, community outreach, public meetings attended, lobbying, media coverage, action alerts, public comments submitted, etc.Include information specific to this particular project (for example, the Midwest Generation Power Plant), and the issue generally (for example, coal-fired power plants in Wisconsin).You may include this information in the descriptive memo.

  1. Useful Resources and Background Documents

If you know of any, please list readily available resources for background information. These may include, for example, a draft complaint, comments or petitions previously submitted to public agencies, NEPA documents,news articles, chapter alerts, and websites. Smaller documents should be attached to the new matter form or separately forwarded to Environmental Law Program staff. For larger documents such as an EA or EIS, please provide a link to the relevant website.

  1. Legal Information

Attorney contact information (Address, telephone, e-mail):

Forum:

Plaintiffs (Please indicate if any are represented by different attorneys):

Defendants:

Potential intervenors:

  1. Litigation Risks

Please describe in detail any unusual risks presented by the proposed lawsuit. It is especially important to fully and accurately assess risks posed in state forums, including state administrative proceedings and state court.

Risks you should evaluate include, but are not limited to:

  • Is there any risk of an attorney fee award against the Club?
  • Are there any other potentially applicable monetary penalty statutes, such as statutes allowing damages for wrongful injunction or frivolous appeal?
  • Is there any indication that a countersuit against the Club is unusually likely in this case?
  • Is there any risk that our opponents will seek unusually burdensome discovery or other unusually aggressive litigation tactics?

  1. Financial Arrangement

Attorney Fees:

(Include the hourly rate, total estimated fees, and any fee cap.The national Club generally will not approve a rate higher than $200/hour.)

Out-of-Pocket Costs:

(Estimate all other expenses that plaintiffs will need to pay.)

Expert Fees (if any):

Total Financial Obligation:

How the costs will be covered:

(Include how the plaintiff groups will split the costs, what the Club’s share will be, and which Club entities will be responsible for covering those costs.)

  1. Sierra Club Contacts

Please provide the name, telephone number, and e-mail address for:

Liaison (Lead Sierra Club contact):

Chapter Chair:

Chapter Legal Chair:

Chapter Conservation Chair:

Group Chair (if applicable):

ATTACH DESCRIPTIVE MEMO TO THIS FORMAND SEND TO:

  1. Please e-mail to:
  1. For additional inquiries, please contact the Environmental Law Program at:

Aaron Isherwood

Sierra Club Coordinating Attorney

2101 Webster St. Suite 1300

Oakland, CA 94612

415-977-5680

The new matter form will be reviewed and evaluated by Sierra Club's staff attorneys. Following this review a staff recommendation will be forwarded to the Sierra Club Litigation Committee for authorization. Any questions you have about Sierra Club litigation may be answered in the Sierra Club Litigation Handbook, which is available from your chapter chair, conservation chair, or legal chair (or else from the Club's national staff lawyers). You can also direct your questions to Coordinating Attorney Aaron Isherwood.

[Form last updated August 2016]

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