Week of 1/28 - Interview w/ Kim Alcantra, BetVictor
We’re starting a new feature where we’ll be interviewing lawyers who work to incorporate climate and sustainability in their practice (i.e., YOU).
I know you like hearing my story, but there are so many ways to do this work.
We’ll be interviewing in-house counsel, law professors, big law partners, government lawyers, and more.
My friend, Jose Almanzar, will be joining the planetary lawyer project as a contributor, and he’ll be doing the interviews. Jose is an environmental attorney based in New York who has dedicated over 25 years to environmental and sustainability issues. He’s also very personable, friendly, and insightful, making him a wonderful interviewer!
Our first interview is with Kim Alcantra, Director of Legal at BetVictor, an online betting platform. In the interview, Kim tells how she has integrated environmental and sustainability practices into every aspect of BetVictor, even though she is not an environmental lawyer herself.
Here’s a brief excerpt:
Jose: So, what do you do? Tell us about your role at BetVictor?
Kim: I’m the Director of Legal at BetVictor, an online betting platform. As the in-house general counsel, I’m a generalist. I work on everything from corporate matters, IP, commercial, employment , you name it.
Although I don’t consider myself to be an “environmental lawyer,” I’m absolutely working to integrate environmental and sustainability practices into the company. At BetVictor, I’ve spent a good amount of energy getting the company to focus on the “E” of ESG. I’m trying to integrate it into every aspect of the company. For years, the company had an ad hoc social CSR committee that was there but focused mostly on charitable giving. I eventually became the Chair of that Committee and have restructured it so that the company’s environmental and sustainability practices are taken seriously.
In this role, I’ve been able to encourage our board to foster more sustainable practices on a company-wide scale. The message resonated with them is that we’re going to help the environment in a way that makes business sense for us; the Board has been very receptive to that approach.
The board has also allowed to me embed environmental issues into our daily commercial work. The idea that every job is a climate job. We’ve been embedding sustainability into our organization and getting employees to get more engaged with it. It’s been very exciting and I’m so fortunate the board supports this mission.
In the rest of the interview, Kim shares how other non-environmental lawyers can take action on climate and sustainability, as well as how to talk about sustainability with business people (e.g., company decision makers and the C-suite), and so much more.
Read the full interview here.
Who do you think we should interview next? You? Reply to let us know your thoughts.
Hi! I’m Matthew, the head of the Environmental and Sustainability Law Group at Offit Kurman, a full-service AMLaw 200 law firm, and the founder of the planetary lawyer project.
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Any views expressed are my own. Nothing here is legal advice.
Now onto this week’s opportunities.
Have a lead on a job opening? Share it here.
Sumer Internships. Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. New York. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/jobs-internships-sabin-center. The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School is seeking a few exceptional undergraduate, master’s students, and/or law students to serve as interns for summer 2023. The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law develops legal techniques to fight climate change, trains law students and lawyers in their use, and provides the public with up-to-date resources on key topics in climate law and regulation.
Senior Attorney. Office of Cannabis Management. New York. https://statejobs.ny.gov/public/vacancyDetailsView.cfm?id=122124. From $88,161 to $111,111. The Office of Cannabis Management is a state agency established upon passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act to implement a regulatory framework for medical and adult-use cannabis in the state of New York, along with hemp regulations as well.
Senior Attorney. Department of Agriculture & Markets - New York State. Albany, NY. https://statejobs.ny.gov/public/vacancyDetailsView.cfm?id=122148. From $29.34 to $42.22 Hourly. You must have 12 months as an Assistant Attorney 3, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets is the department of the New York state government that enforces laws relating to agriculture, weights and measures, and the production, processing, transportation, storage, marketing and distribution of food.
Associate Counsel. CleanChoice Energy. Remote. https://cleanchoiceenergy.com/careers. At least 2 years of legal practice with direct experience providing substantive contract drafting and negotiation services and/or substantive review of public-facing content, either in-house or at a law firm. CleanChoice Energy, a national renewable energy company.
Legislative Analyst, Governmental Affairs and Public Policy. American Gas Association. Washington, DC. https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=300d4bdb-72d8-4417-b91e-2a083c0c650c&ccId=19000101_000001&jobId=458813&source=CC2&lang=en_US. Minimum two years of legislative, regulatory, lobbying or political experience in a support position. The American Gas Association, represents more than 200 local energy companies that deliver clean natural gas throughout the United States.
Corporate Counsel & Director of Compliance and Legal Affairs. Riverbend Industries Inc. Chicago, IL. https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/corporate-counsel-director-of-compliance-legal-affairs-at-riverbend-industries-3440885319/. 175.000 $/yr - 200.000 $/yr. 3-5 years of experience serving as an attorney working with or for a multi-state corporation and/or portfolio holding company. (RBI) portfolio is primarily composed of several small, independently operated, previously family-run businesses in the light manufacturing and distribution sectors.
Senior Attorney. Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Chicago, IL. https://cookcountyil.taleo.net/careersection/400/jobdetail.ftl. $99,120 / Annually.Must possess at least 5 years of full-time work experience as a practicing attorney. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are mostly set aside as natural areas.
Contracts Attorney. RONDO. San Francisco Bay Area. https://rondo-energy-inc.breezy.hr/p/d453d1eb0149-contracts-attorney. $120,000 - $200,000. 3-10 years of experience practicing transactional law. Rondo Energy is a rapidly growing clean energy start-up, deploying high-performance, low-cost, zero-carbon heat batteries to enable greater penetration of renewable energy to decarbonize emissions-intensive industrial processes that account for nearly 25% of global carbon emissions.
Counsel. Wunder. Boulder or Denver, CO or Remote. https://www.wundercapital.com/careers/apply/6580804002. The salary range for this role is $200,000 - $300,000 per year, plus equity in the form of stock options. 5+ years of relevant experience as a practicing lawyer. Wunder was founded with one simple vision: to address the greatest crisis of our generation by accelerating the proliferation of solar energy.
Chief Regulatory Counsel, Environment. American Gas Association. Washington, DC. https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=300d4bdb-72d8-4417-b91e-2a083c0c650c&ccId=19000101_000001&jobId=459471&source=CC2&lang=en_US. 10 or more years of experience in federal environmental and energy regulatory advocacy, federal litigation, and environmental, energy, and administrative procedural law. The American Gas Association, represents more than 200 local energy companies that deliver clean natural gas throughout the United States.