William Snow

Associate Attorney

William came to SELC to practice place-based movement lawyering on behalf of the South’s distinctive communities and ecosystems. He works in three main areas.  

In water protection, he helps hold industrial polluters accountable for contaminating Georgia’s waters, and addresses threats resulting from Georgia’s aging wastewater infrastructure. With data centers, he seeks creative ways to prevent the AI boom from unfairly extracting the South’s precious natural resources and harming neighboring communities. And in Georgia’s most polluted cities, he centers overburdened communities’ perspectives when surveying the harms they face and pursues holistic solutions for cleaner water, air, and land.  

“Everyone in law school learns the classic environmental law cases, about snail darters and EPA regulations,” William said. “But SELC is out on the cutting edge of environmental law practice, confronting the rapid proliferation of data centers and unprecedented threats from the federal government. I’m thrilled to be playing a small part in protecting future life from this chaotic present.” 

William’s hometown is Nashville, where he interned with SELC during law school; his other internships were with the New York Attorney General and the White House. Throughout his life, “protecting people and planet has been my goal, and SELC represents the gold standard in furthering that goal in concrete, effective ways,” William said. 

A place that he loves is Cumberland Island National Seashore off the Georgia coast. “The ferry to Cumberland Island is like a time machine,” he said. “The island has so much unique history and breathtaking ecology. It stands alone as a national gem.” 

• J.D., New York University School of Law; New York University Environmental Law Journal, New York University Review of Law and Social Change 
• B.A., University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude