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Warrior Lawyer Profile: Nemonte Nenquimo

When you ask someone from a Western nation, “what does a leader look like?” they may point to politicians, CEOs or possibly even ground-breaking lawyers. Most would not think of Nemonte Nenquimo, but that must be because they have not heard of her. Nemonte, whose name means “many stars, face the sun”, was born and raised in the territory of her grandfathers: the Yasuni Region of the Amazon Rainforest. Nemonte is a leader of the Waorani Indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest in what is colonially referred to as Ecuador.

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Katie Redford

Few law students dream that in the mountain of work we submit for grades some part of it could have any—let alone a major—impact on the real world’s legal landscape. Katie Redford did more than dream. In her final year at the University of Virginia School of Law, she pushed to do an independent study on how an antiquated US law dating back to 1789—the Alien Tort Claims Act—could be used to hold American oil company Unocal accountable for purported human rights abuses in Myanmar.

NO FLY ZONE SPEAKER: Notre Affaire à Tous and Others v. France: How to Use "General Principles" Arguments in Future Climate Cases

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Sarah Deer

Indigenous peoples are the stewards and traditional owners of territories covering more than 50% of the world’s land area. However, these same peoples hold legal rights and property titles to just a small fraction of these lands; lands they have lived on (and in relationship to) for centuries and millennia. This reality makes the law one of the great hurdles for Indigenous peoples the world over and an effective instrument of past and continuing colonialism. This is part of the context which informs Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizen Sarah Deer’s important work.

NO FLY ZONE SPEAKER: Re-Thinking Waste: Mapping Racial Geographies of Violence on the Colonial Landscape

THE TIME IS NOW: Canadian and Global Recognition of the Right to a Healthy Environment

Climate Accountability Litigation by Governments Against Fossil Fuel Companies: Exploring the Options

No Fly Zone Speaker: "Laws are for the Lawless" - Learning Indigenous Law On and From the Land

No Fly Zone Speaker: Accessing Justice for Animals

No Fly Zone Speaker: The Epic Environmental Litigation of Chevron V. Ecuador: Lessons From The Frontlines

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Roger Cox

Roger Cox is a Dutch lawyer with the Paulussen Advocaten law firm in Maastricht, the Netherlands. He is a lecturer in universities, publisher of several journal articles and author of the book Revolution Justified: Why Only the Law Can Save Us Now, which shows how courts and the rule of law can spur change in national governments’ policies on climate change. Apart from being the lawyer behind the Urgenda Foundation v The State of the Netherlands case, he is also founder of the Planet Prosperity Foundation and a renowned personality in the area of sustainable development.

Warrior Lawyer Profile: John Bonine

From early in his legal career, John Bonine demonstrated a strong interest in protecting and implementing environmental rights. He was Associate General Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before becoming a law professor at the University of Oregon. There he would go on to create the world’s first environmental law clinic in 1978. The Western Environmental Law Clinic (now “Center”) has seen a lot of success, and Bonine has founded (and co-founded) many other organizations since.