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Office:

Chapel Hill, NC

Julie Youngman

Senior Attorney

Julie focuses on litigation in state and federal courts. Her cases involve protecting water quality and quantity, coastal resources, and endangered species, and promoting environmental justice.

In a career that spanned military service, private practice, and teaching law at Washington & Lee University, Julie ultimately directed her work ethic and passion to SELC because it offered her the greatest sense of purpose and fulfillment. She bases this on an earlier 8-year stint at SELC and her current employment that began in 2022.  

I wanted my kids to be proud of my work and appreciate the need for any sacrifices.

Julie Youngman

“It’s important to me that my work makes the world a better place for them, my neighbors and community, and for future generations generally. We produce tangible, measurable results.”

Case in point: “Thanks to some of the matters I’ve worked on, the water in North Carolina is cleaner and more sea turtles hatch each year.”  

As much as Julie loves the ocean, the mountains of North Carolina beckon just as much. “It’s too hard to pick just one,” she said when asked her favorite spot in the southeast. “I love the waves, beaches, and villages of the Outer Banks of North Carolina equally with the peaks, gorges, and waterfalls of Pisgah National Forest. The moving water and the majestic views speak to my core.”

Previous Experience

  • Washington & Lee University, professor and director of the Law, Justice and Society interdisciplinary program
  • Southern Environmental Law Center (2007-2015) 
  • Ellis & Winters, LLP, Raleigh, NC, partner 
  • Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore, LLP, associate 
  • Shea & Gardner, Washington D.C., associate 
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,  clerk
  • U.S. Army officer
  • J.D., Duke University School of Law, high honors; Duke Law Review, managing editor; Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum, staff editor; Environmental Law Society, president
  • M.A., Duke University School of the Environment
  • B.S., Duke University 
Southern Environmental Law Center

The mission of the Southern Environmental Law Center is to protect the basic right to clean air, clean water, and a livable climate; to preserve our region's natural treasures and rich biodiversity; and to provide a healthy environment for all.

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