JUST TRANSITION LAWYERING NETWORK

A global formation of lawyers working for the climate frontlines.

The Just Transition Lawyering Network (JTLN) is a growing formation of attorneys, legal workers, and scholars committed to supporting frontline soltuions that advance climate justice and a just transition away from extractive systems.

JTLN exists to transform how law is practiced in this moment of climate crisis. Rather than positioning legal expertise as the driver of change, the Network supports movement leadership, community governance, and frontline visions for repair and accountability to advance Global Climate Reparations.

stay updated with jtln

Subscribe to stay in the loop with our community of licensed attorneys, legal workers, law professors, and law-trained practitioners, all committed to movement-aligned lawyering.

donate to support JTLN

Your donation is an investment in the development of shared legal infrastructure protecting frontline communities and advancing Global Climate Reparations. Donate today.

WHAT JTLN DOES

Just Transition Lawyering Network builds shared infrastructure for values-aligned lawyering rooted in solidarity, humility, and movement accountability. The Network helps lawyers:

Accompany frontline movements advancing land, water, energy, and climate justice

Translate legal and policy tools into accessible resources for organizers and communities

Share strategies, lessons, and political analysis across regions and practice areas

Practice law in alignment with movement timelines rather than institutional pace

Through convenings, shared learning, and resource development, JTLN moves from transactional support to transformational partnership.

OUR COMMON PURPOSE

JTLN is a space for licensed attorneys, legal workers, law professors, and law-trained practitioners applying their skills across fields who believe:

  • Climate justice requires systemic change, not isolated wins

  • Law must serve community-defined futures

  • Repair and accountability are central to climate solutions

  • Legal workers have a responsibility to challenge extractive systems, including within the legal profession itself

WHERE & WHY JTLN WORKS

JTLN works with global frontline movements, with deep roots in the U.S. Gulf South, Appalachia and the Global Black Diaspora, while continuing to build connections worldwide. Our work builds on the legacy of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy and Taproot Earth’s partnerships through the Just Transition Lawyering Institute (JTLI) and cultivates new regional and issue-based relationships.

Why does JTLN work? Because it recognizes that movements lead and lawyers support. The climate crisis is a legal crisis but it cannot be solved by law alone.

In 2023 in Durham, NC, climate organizers and lawyers came together to name our current conditions, build a shared analysis, and shape movement standards for a just transition. These standards continue to center JTLN’s work in both principle and practice:

  • Center community needs and leadership

  • Use law as one tool among many in broader movement strategy

  • Break down legal language to expand access and power

  • Remain accountable to the histories, harms, and wisdom of frontline communities


As advocates and conduits of #WeChooseNow, JTLN affirms that those most impacted must shape the systems that govern our lives, advance Global Climate Reparations, and activate the repair and accountability needed to support frontline solutions.

resources

Explore this archive of resources magnifying insights and frontline visions supportive of climate justice and climate reparations.  ●  Explore this archive of resources magnifying insights and frontline visions supportive of climate justice and climate reparations.  ●

Just Transition Framework

A vision-led, place-based framework for building economic and political power to move from an extractive, profit-driven economy to a regenerative one rooted in equity and care. While transition is inevitable, justice requires intentional reorganization of systems shaped by white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, and exploitation.

Just Transition Lawyering Institute (JTLI)

A training and community-building program for lawyers committed to aligning their legal practice with the principles of just transition.

JTLI supports attorneys in shifting from extractive legal frameworks toward regenerative, equity-centered economies that sustain people and the planet.

SERIES

Q & A WITH THE Just Transition Lawyering NETWORK

Listen to this Q & A hosted by members of the Just Transition Lawyering Network, featuring insights from its leaders and scholars advancing just transition through legal practice.

How do you define 'Just Transition'?

What's JTLN three years into the future?

What's your connection to 'Just Transition'?

Who should see themselves as part of JTLN?

SERIES

Lectures from the Just Transition Lawyering Institute

Listen to this curated series of lectures presented by the Just Transition Lawyering Institute and led by distinguished legal scholars, law professors, and practitioners specializing in public international law, environmental law, and international human rights.

Settler Colonialism, Racial Capitalism, and the Struggle for Environmental Justice

Natsu Taylor Saito, J.D., M.Ed

Colonialism, Capitalism, and Climate Change

Dr. Angela Harris, J.D., M.A.

Stopping Extractive Industry Expansion

Adrienne Bloch, J.D.

Jtln: the journey over time

Explore key milestones marking JTLN’s growth and the growth of JTLN and its role in advancing movement-aligned lawyering for climate justice and a just transition.

October 2025

Fortify Clinic — Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

JTLN hosts a Fortify Clinic in Puerto Rico in support of Taproot Noire and Gulf South to Appalachia frontline formations.

August 2025

Fortify Clinic —Katrina 20 Week of Action

Gulfport, MS

JTLN hosts another Fortify Clinic in Gulfport, MS, as part of the Katrina 20 Week of Action.

November 2023

Fortify Clinic — Charlotte

Charlotte, NC

JTLN hosts its first Fortify Clinic, bringing together lawyers and frontline organizations for a dedicated day of collaboration.

November 2023

Summit on Climate, Environmental Justice, Racism, and the Law

Charlotte, NC

JTLN hosts the Summit on Climate, Environmental Justice, Racism, and the Law in Charlotte, NC.

April 2023

Launch of the Just Transition Lawyering Network (JTLN)

Global

The Just Transition Lawyering Network (JTLN) formally launches as a coalition of movement-aligned lawyers, legal advocates, and frontline organizations.

2005–2011

Disaster Response Legal Clinics

Gulf Coast (Louisiana & Mississippi)

Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy, Taproot Earth’s predecessor, hosts a series of legal clinics to support frontline communities navigating displacement, environmental harm, and systemic neglect in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Have a question for Just Transition Lawyering Network? Contact us at jtln[at]taproot.earth.