With a community of 125,000 lawyers, law students and activists, Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is 501(c)(3) nonprofit that drives nationwide pro bono efforts in reproductive justice, health equity, immigrants’ rights, climate change and racial justice. Facing an urgent need to expand their Climate Change & Environmental Justice team, they sought out Duffy Group’s research-driven search model. Through this partnership, L4GG successfully hired eight legal and operational professionals, accelerating their clean energy initiatives and amplifying their impact in the fight for a more sustainable future.

The Challenge

Like so many nonprofits, L4GG faced the ongoing challenge of attracting skilled legal and operational talent in a highly competitive market. While corporate law firms and larger organizations could offer significantly higher salaries, L4GG’s compensation flexibility was naturally constrained.

At the same time, expanding its climate team required professionals with expertise in clean energy law, tax policy and regulatory compliance, particularly within the relatively new Inflation Reduction Act. This created a hiring challenge on two fronts:

• Higher salaries at larger firms made recruitment more challenging.
• Candidates needed strong legal expertise and deep alignment with L4GG’s mission to mobilize lawyers nationwide to ensure all levels of government promote equal justice.

The Scenario

L4GG’s partnership with Duffy Group began when their President & Executive Director and VP of Climate Change & Environmental Justice sought a Senior Tax Attorney to support their growing initiatives. After struggling to fill the role via traditional job postings — yielding two unqualified applicants — L4GG turned to Duffy Group.

We successfully placed a highly qualified Senior Tax Attorney with the expertise and mission alignment L4GG needed, setting the stage for long-term impact.

Shortly after securing this key hire, L4GG received significant grant funding, allowing them to expand their climate team further. Seeing firsthand the impact of our recruitment strategy, they trusted Duffy Group to recruit additional senior legal counsel, program coordinators, supervising attorneys and operational leaders — roles that would help scale their clean energy initiatives.

The Solution

L4GG needed more than just candidates — they needed legal and operational professionals who could champion climate justice and advocacy efforts. To meet this challenge, we deployed our Duffy Recruitment Research™ process, targeting highly qualified, mission-driven talent who aligned with both the technical and advocacy-driven needs of the organization.

• We worked closely with L4GG to map out a strategic hiring plan, prioritizing the most urgent roles to keep momentum strong.
• Our search focused on mission-aligned professionals from nonprofits, law firms and organizations already championing environmental justice.
• Knowing salary was a challenge, we spotlighted L4GG’s impact, flexibility and strong benefits to attract candidates driven by purpose over paycheck.

The Outcome

Our strategic recruitment efforts resulted in eight successful placements, giving L4GG the legal and operational expertise needed to scale its Climate Change & Environmental Justice team. Despite salary hurdles and strong competition from private firms, we identified and secured mission-driven professionals who prioritized impact over higher pay — with nearly half of the hires coming from diverse backgrounds.

• Supervising Attorney, Environmental Justice
• Senior Attorney, Clean Energy/Project Finance
• (2) Senior Clean Energy & Tax Attorney
• Staff Attorney, Clean Energy
• Project Manager
• (2) Program Coordinator

This strategic hiring approach demonstrated the efficiency and value of our recruitment model. With the right team in place, L4GG is now better positioned to drive clean energy initiatives and create lasting environmental impact.