The Opportunity
We have a rare opportunity for an experienced senior associate with strong Planning and Environment experience to join our Band-1 ranked Environment & Sustainable Development team in Sydney.
In this role, you will work alongside leading partner and National Practice Head of Environment & Sustainable Development Claire Smith, and other experienced senior practitioners nationally. You will act for domestic and global clients on the full gamut of legal services across advice, transactions and disputes.
This opportunity will see you apply your specialist Environment & Planning law knowledge to a varied range of intellectually stimulating matters spanning renewable energy, climate change, ESG, corporate transactions, infrastructure, and precinct scale property development. Claire also has a significant planning and environment disputes practice spanning renewable energy, biodiversity, waste, mining and infrastructure clients.
This role offers the opportunity to work at forefront of some of Australia's most complex energy and infrastructure deals, climate advisory and major, high-stakes planning and environmental disputes.
What We Are Looking For:
Demonstrated experience as a Senior Associate (at least 6 years PQE), with well-developed technical legal expertise, particularly in Planning law;
The confidence and ability to run matters with minimal partner supervision;
Exceptional attention to detail;
Willingness and capability to mentor junior lawyers and contribute to knowledge sharing within the team and firm as well as externally.
The Environment & Sustainable Development Team
Our ESD team is rated as one of only two Tier-1 practices in Australia, and has been recognised as the leading team in Australia. We specialise in all areas of environment and planning law for significant federal and state government and private sector clients with a focus on energy, linear infrastructure, precinct scale developments, data centres, climate change, sustainability, water, energy, resources, biodiversity, contaminated land and waste.
Our diverse work covers large scale development and infrastructure projects, major transactions, operational compliance, strategic and policy advice, incident management, litigation and inquiries.
Our clients are both domestic and global, operating in a wide range of sectors including government, resources, energy, water, infrastructure, urban development, construction, manufacturing, transport and logistics, waste management, health services, education and agribusiness.
For further information, please visit our Environment & Sustainable Development showcase page on LinkedIn.
How to Apply?
We prefer to work directly with candidates, if you are interested in this role, please click the ‘Apply’ button or contact the consultant, details below, for more information. Clayton Utz is an inclusive employer that supports flexible work arrangements, please feel free to discuss your flexibility needs with the recruiter for this role.
Consultant Contact Details
Nicole St John, (02) 9353 4928
Accessibility and Inclusion
We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to provide a positive, barrier-free recruitment process. Do you require any support or reasonable adjustments to complete your application? If so, please contact the recruiter via the above telephone number or via email to recruitmentsupport@claytonutz.com
For more information on Clayton Utz, please visit www.claytonutz.com or follow us on LinkedIn here
Agency submissions
Clayton Utz does not accept agency submissions unless the agency is specifically contacted by a member of the Clayton Utz Recruitment Team. Please do not forward candidate profiles or resumes to Clayton Utz partners, hiring managers or other employees - this will not constitute as an introduction to the firm and Clayton Utz will not be liable for a fee.

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