Legal team

As advocates, our job is to make sure children’s voices are heard in courts of law. Held youth plaintiffs are represented by Nate Bellinger, Mat dos Santos, Philip Gregory, Julia Olson, Andrea Rodgers with Our Children’s Trust; Melissa Hornbein and Barbara Chillcott with Western Environmental Law Center; and Roger Sullivan with McGarvey Law.

WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER

Barbara Chillcott

Barbara joined WELC in 2021 after 15 years working on water law and policy in Montana. Originally from South Carolina, Barbara earned a BA in economics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and her law degree from the University of Montana School of Law.

She previously worked to restore instream flows across Montana as a project manager and executive director of a statewide water trust. From 2010 through 2016, as the legal director for the Clark Fork Coalition, Barbara developed and advanced strategies for protecting and restoring the Clark Fork river watershed. She joined WELC after working as an attorney for the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation for five years on water rights law and policy.

press & media

The Independent August 15, 2023 Young activists sued Montana over fossil fuels. They just won the ‘strongest decision on climate change ever’ NPR August 14, 2023 Judge rules in favor of young activists in Montana climate change trial Eugene Weekly August 15, 2023 Young Climate Activists Sue Montana and Win