Abigail Dillen is the President of Earthjustice, leading the organization’s staff, board and supporters to advance our mission of using the courts to protect our environment and people’s health. She is based at headquarters in San Francisco, California.
Before stepping into her current role, Dillen served as the Vice President of Litigation for Climate & Energy, heading the organization’s litigation and legal advocacy to achieve the essential shift from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy.
Prior to that, Dillen was managing attorney of Earthjustice’s Coal Program, which has played a central role in forcing the overdue retirement of coal-fired power plants around the country.
Dillen has litigated precedent-setting cases that have held polluters accountable and cleared the way for clean energy nationally. These wins include: requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate first-ever standards to govern disposal of coal ash and limit the wastewater discharge of toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants; blocking a $2 billion transmission project to transport dirty coal energy from the Ohio Valley to East Coast cities; blocking permits for new coal-fired power plants; and cutting off federal funding of new coal plants.
Dillen came to Earthjustice in 2000. Working first out of Earthjustice's Northern Rockies Office in Bozeman, Montana, she worked to protect public lands and the many imperiled species that depend on them, including wolves, grizzly bears, and native trout.
Dillen received her B.A. from Yale University and her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated Order of the Coif.
Abigail Dillen headshot © Chris Jordan-Bloch