Environmental Law: finding your “voice” to create positive change

Written By Frances Ridout

In this episode we are joined by two special guests:

  • Flora Curtis, a London-based barrister specialising in environmental law, and a member of “Legal Voices for the Future” (LVF), a learning forum acting as a voice for positive change about climate-related issues for the next generation of lawyers. 

  • Professor Camila Bustos is the Assistant Professor of Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University (NY), and co-founder of the US body “Law Students for Climate Accountability” initiative in the US to highlight the role lawyers can play on key environmental issues.  

Flora talks about how a barrister’s work can focus on different aspects of environmental law, and the actual role a barrister can play in cases – including understanding important technical areas of environmental law, and discussing scientific findings with expert witnesses.  The challenge of the “cab rank” rule is considered, where barristers are under an obligation to offer representation to clients to enable access to justice, where climate-related ethical issues may arise from representing certain individuals or organisations.  Flora talks about the skills you use in such work, the importance of good research and questioning skills, and the need to have the confidence to challenge senior experts.  The work of LVF in running education sessions is highlighted, with topics ranging from climate litigation to “greenwashing” by corporations.

Camila speaks about what led her to be one of the co-founders at Yale Law School of the LSCA initiative, now active across the whole US.  The disconnect between the rhetoric of law firms and their actions is explored, including how the group has put together an annual “Scorecard” to measure the performance of different law firms on climate-related issues – and also invites students, law firms and their clients to make a pledge on how they are contributing positively on climate-related issues. Camila discusses the purpose of publishing this information, including the goal of empowering students to consider for which organisations they may like to work, and encourages students to remember what brought them to law in the first place as a field of study – remembering to keep their “Why?” and purpose front of mind as they build their careers.

Listen to the Episode:

Actions & Resources for Listeners:          

  • Read the UK “Carbon Circle” report from the Law Students for Climate Accountability – what does this tell you about the Legal Industry’s ties to the Fossil Fuel Industry?

  • Also look at the organisation’s latest “scorecard” for how major law firms rank in their activities related to fossil fuels: https://www.ls4ca.org/scorecard        

  • Follow the “Legal Voices for the Future” LinkedIn page to learn about their work, and recent knowledge sessions they have run.

Frances Ridout
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