Reimagining the Law for Nature

Paul co-founded Lawyers for Nature following his experience providing legal advice and assistance to tree protectors in Sheffield, who were seeking to stop the destruction of thousands of trees in their city. Not only did the law fail to protect these trees, but in many instances it criminalised the tree protesters and facilitated the unnecessary felling. Since then, he has assisted in dozens of campaigns to protect trees, rivers, and other habitats from destruction and has consistently appeared in court to represent Nature. These experiences have shown Paul that our legal system is built on the wrong foundations when it comes to Nature and that a fundamental shift is needed. 

Since co-founding Lawyers for Nature in 2019, Paul has been at the forefront of re-imagining the law for Nature. He represents Nature and Nature protectors in our courts and uses the lessons learned from these experiences to show how our legal system has been fundamentally at odds with Nature. Paul has become a leading voice for Rights of Nature in the UK. Through hundreds of talks, workshops, podcasts, and interviews, Paul passionately advocates for our legal system to come into alignment with Nature and to actively support the protection and restoration of the natural world. 

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Paul lives on a boat on the River Roding in East London. In 2019, he founded the River Roding Trust, where he works passionately and tirelessly to protect and restore the river, uphold its rights, and speak for the river’s interests. Paul’s relationship towards the river also provides us with practical examples of the way in which our current legal and regulatory system is failing and how Nature guardianship can instead provide a practical, legal, and philosophical way forward.

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Paul practised at the civil and commercial bar for a decade after graduating with a first class degree from the University of Cambridge.

Named one of Vogue Business’ 100 Innovators of 2024 for her work as a sustainability thought leader, Brontie is the managing director of Lawyers for Nature. Initially focussing on public law and judicial review, she then moved into Rights of Nature work. She was a lead legal architect of the 2022 Faith in Nature, Nature on the Board intervention. Later, she became the first person to sit as the legal guardian for Nature on the board of Faith in Nature and she held this position for two years. Brontie now sits on a number of corporate and non-profit boards as both a non-executive expert and as 'Nature'. Brontie is the managing director of Lawyers for Nature.

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Brontie founded Lawyers for Nature in 2019 with Paul Powlesland. She graduated in 2006 with a first in Law and Management from Sussex University where she also completed her masters degree in Law, Rights and Responsibility. Brontie then went on to qualify as a solicitor and complete training at a top 60 law firm. She continued her legal career with international work and lecturing law; teaching at Sussex University, University of Brighton, and Grenoble Business School and, finally, was appointed Associate Professor of Law at the University of Essex. She has lectured across a range of core and specialist legal subjects.

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Brontie works with the philosophy of Rights of Nature to bring change to systems, companies, and people. Her work is focussed on creating robust legal structures that allow Nature to be represented in human decision-making spaces. Brontie advocates from the position that Nature already has rights and the law must reflect this in order to be an equitable, democratic society. She is also working on theorising, and putting into practice, the concept of responsibility to future generations and the equitable sharing of all resources across the Earth. Brontie is keen to progress work that builds upon previous movements such as women's rights and children's rights, while stretching imaginations to a place that will enable a just transition for all. Brontie is also a public speaker on similar issues.

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Jessie is a director at Lawyers for Nature. Jessie graduated from Sussex University with a first class degree and then qualified as a barrister. She has practiced criminal, family, and regulatory law from 2 Dr Johnson's Buildings, where she remains a tenant. Jessie recently completed masters in Environmental Law at SOAS University and wrote her dissertation on Rights of Nature and Indigenous rights. One of Jessie’s contributions was her involvement in the 'We Are Nature' campaign, which successfully persuaded the Oxford English Dictionary to revise its wider definition of "Nature" to include humans and made the entry freely accessible to the public. This campaign was a vital step in challenging the pervasive notion that humans are separate from the natural world; instead emphasising the importance of viewing ourselves as an integral part of Nature. 

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Jessie advocates for the recognition of Nature’s rights within legal and governance systems. Her work encourages a fundamental shift in how people and organisations approach decision-making, urging them to act as though Nature has rights and deserves a seat at the table. Jessie is also interested in the intersection of Indigenous rights, seeking to integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into legal frameworks. Jessie is dedicated to fostering a deeper awareness of our interconnectedness with the environment, aiming to move society away from an anthropocentric worldview towards a more biocentric model that acknowledges the intrinsic value of all living beings and ecosystems.

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Ketan is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Business and Law and is also a part of the Law, Society and Justice (LawSoJust) Research and Enterprise Group, which brings together academics from law and related social science disciplines, who are active in the fields of social justice and accountability. An expert in biodiversity and administrative law, Ketan delivers on behalf of the Lawyers for Nature community with insights on local government and judicial review. Ketan is also interested in international climate litigation, and believes we need legal actions engaging citizens in every country to secure a habitable planet for future generations.

Lauren is our Operations Manager. She is responsible for overseeing daily operational tasks and supporting the work of members of the Core Team. Her role also includes managing our communications strategy through content creation and designing our digital presence.

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Outside of LFN Lauren is also an activist, campaigner and organiser for the UK and Youth Network branches of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Lauren holds an LLB in European Legal Studies from the University of Kent and she is currently studying part-time for an LLM in Innovation, Technology and the Law at the University of Edinburgh.

Laura Reineke is a clean-water campaigner, environmental advocate and marathon swimmer whose life and work are deeply connected to rivers and the people who protect them.

Born beside the River Thames and having lived within a few miles of her throughout her life, Laura describes her relationship with the river as symbiotic. The Thames has been her playground, training ground, sanctuary and source of purpose, a relationship embodied by the herons she encounters along her swims and has come to regard as fellow guardians of the river.

Laura is the founder of Friends of the Thames, established to give the river a stronger voice and to connect and empower the communities protecting her from source to sea. Her campaigning has focused on sewage and chemical pollution, biodiversity loss, regulatory failure and the wider principle that rivers should be recognised not simply as resources for human use, but as living systems with intrinsic value and a right to thrive. Central to her work is a belief in Rights of Nature and in guardianship as a practical way of giving rivers a voice in the decisions that determine their future.

Her connection with water extends far beyond the Thames. Laura is an accomplished marathon swimmer and one of a small number of people worldwide to have completed swimming’s Triple Crown: the English Channel, the Catalina Channel and the 20 Bridges circumnavigation of Manhattan. Through long hours immersed in rivers, seas and oceans, she has experienced waterways not as lines on maps, but as interconnected living worlds – carrying wildlife, pollution, history, culture and human stories across landscapes and borders.

She increasingly uses her swimming to tell those stories: drawing attention to water quality, plastics, sewage, chemicals and biodiversity, while exploring the profound relationship between people and water. For Laura, protecting a river begins with connection: we fight hardest for the places we know, love and feel ourselves to be part of.

As Convenor of the Parliament of Rivers, Laura will be its Gatherer of Guardians – seeking out and connecting the extraordinary people already standing up for rivers across the country. From citizen scientists, swimmers and anglers to farmers, lawyers, artists, faith communities, campaigners, academics and those who simply know and love their local waterway, she will help bring their knowledge, experience and voices together.

The Parliament of Rivers is founded on a simple idea that sits at the heart of Laura’s work: “Rivers need people willing to speak for them, but first, we need to gather those people together and listen.”

Katie is a research consultant at Lawyers for Nature, working across environmental, planning and public law. Her research focuses on water quality, considering how urban development affects rivers and ecosystems. She works within our Legal Aid for Nature programme, supporting individuals and community groups on Local Plan consultations. Recent projects have involved the protection of ancient woodland and addressing the impact of water pollution on European sites (SPA/SAC) and Ramsar wetlands.

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After graduating from the University of Cambridge, Katie completed the MA Law (Conversion) at the University of Law. Her dissertation questioned how effectively the law regulates the environmental impact of the property sector, with a particular focus on the planning system. She has previously worked in claimant-side group litigation, and remains interested in facilitating access to justice and the potential for large-scale environmental litigation to effect change.

Belle is our operations and events person. With a background in the History of Art, Belle works closely with the creative world and draws inspiration from nature. She has a keen interest in the restoration of objects and the reuse of materials. Belle also collaborates with central London galleries, deepening her connection to the art world.

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She aims to bring a fresh perspective on commerciality to Lawyers for Nature, reimagining the future of commoditisation in a way that benefits the planet.