Access to Justice.

Access to justice is an important human right. It is in fact especially important because it is an essential pre-condition to the enjoyment of a number of other human rights. Rights are worthless when they cannot be enforced.

For the past 20 years I have dedicated my career to improving access to justice for vulnerable people. There are two key strands to this work.

The first strand is my active engagement in reforming legal systems. This includes identifying and removing structural impediments to access, strengthening legal aid systems and front line legal service providers, thought-leadership and innovation in relation to legal service delivery.

The second strand relates to pro bono work. In addition to acting for a great many pro bono clients personally, I lead a global practice at DLA Piper which delivers more than 200,000 hours of free legal advice annually. In recent years I have collaborated with a number of other leading pro bono lawyers to grow a culture of pro bono in every region around the world.

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Inequality & Extreme Poverty.

Increasing levels of inequality is one of the greatest challenges of our time. There are around 7 billion people inhabiting the earth today. Around 1 billion people are living in extreme poverty (surviving on less than $2 per day).

My first exposure to international development was in 2008 when I started advising the government of Timor Leste, a small fragile nation in South East Asia which is recognised by UNDP as one of the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs). My relationship with Timor Leste (which continues to this day) made me aware of the very significant impact law firms could have by providing pro bono legal support to governments, NGOs, aid agencies, development banks and other actors working to support human and economic development.

For many years I have been actively engaged in supporting the expansion of law firm pro bono in order that it may reach those living in extreme poverty, and support development outcomes.

In 2017 I conceived of and established the DLA Piper Global Scholarship Programme which awards scholarships to the top law students in the world’s least developed countries.

I am also now expanding my focus to research the impacts of trans-national business on the economic development of the LDCs. As part of this work I am leading a project at DLA Piper in collaboration with a group of global businesses to create a platform which will bring LDC based businesses into the supply chains of trans-national corporations, with a view to supporting increased foreign direct investment, skills development and job creation.

Responsible Business.

Global corporations have unprecedented power and there are countless examples of businesses having extraordinary positive and negative impacts on society.

As the Head of Responsible Business at DLA Piper since 2013 I have been charged with the task of ensuring the firm minimizes its negative impacts on society, leading on the creation of our diversity & inclusion function, overseeing our environmental sustainability, creating the firm’s business & human rights practice, continuously improving our transparency and sustainability reporting, monitoring stakeholder expectations etc.

As global businesses have become increasingly aware of the need to identify, manage and report ESG risks, I have been regularly involved in supporting businesses across a range of sectors to navigate these issues, with a particular focus on social risks, which very often involve negative human impacts linked to business operations.

Commencing in 2021 I will be shifting my focus away from crisis management and response towards developing governance models, strategies and tools to proactively identify and mitigate negative human rights risks associated with business operations, and to develop business models that create positive value for the community.