Activist Lawyer

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined by human rights solicitor and partner with Daly Khurshid Solicitors, Gary Daly. Gary discusses the effectiveness of activism and the law through his work on discrimination, immigration and social welfare and housing law as well as his time spent in Palestine, Calais and other locations where he provides voluntary legal support to vulnerable refugees and asyl...

Sarah is joined by employment law specialist Danielle Ayres of Primas Law.  Danielle shares her experience as a solicitor, juggling family life and supporting women facing maternity challenges and discrimination around pregnancy and related issues.   Danielle and Sarah highlight the importance of flexible working, managing menopause in the workplace as well as Danielle’s role in the fantastic orga...

In this week's episode, our host, Sarah, is joined by solicitor of England & Wales and a California attorney, Honza Cervenka from law firm McAllister Olivarius.

Sarah speaks with solicitor Ciarán Mulholland from Mulholland Law about his extensive work on criminal justice matters. Ciarán discusses the criminal legal aid scheme in Ireland as well as challenges around policing, accessing justice and some interesting and extremely relevant cases he and his team are working on.   *TW – some cases mentioned in this podcast explore themes of violence which some...

Sarah is joined by solicitor Richard Port MBE who works in family law as a partner with George Green Solicitors in the West Midlands.  Richard specialises in domestic abuse cases and provides us with an excellent insight into his work and achievements in this complex and difficult area of law.   *TW: Please note that we discuss instances of domestic violence and abuse in this episode which can be...

Sarah meets Dublin based solicitor Siobhán Conlon who is a human rights lawyer specialising in criminal defence and immigration.  Siobhán discusses the challenges currently facing her immigration clients including homelessness and difficulties around family reunification for refugees.

Sarah is joined by lawyer Aonghus Kelly who talks about his new role as senior adviser on prosecution of international crimes with the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) where he is based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Aonghus is no stranger to the podcast and provides listeners with excellent advice on working in the sphere of international law. 

In this week's episode, Sarah meets with solicitor Gavin Booth from Phoenix Law to discuss his views on the ongoing attacks on lawyers working on human rights cases.  

Sarah is joined by lawyer Christopher Stanley who is a litigation consultant with the law firm KRW Law.  Christopher is a widely published legal contributor and talks to Sarah about his legal journey from academic, barrister, NGO caseworker to legal consultant.  Aspects of Christopher’s work discussed includes immigration, Northern Ireland legacy cases and historic abuse.      Please click on link...

This episode of Activist Lawyer features Maria McCloskey and Hilary Perry from the PILS Project – Northern Ireland’s dedicated hub for public interest litigation.  Together with our host Sarah Henry, Maria and Hilary discuss membership, the aims of the organisation, current examples of strategic litigation and the importance of pro-bono work.   You can find out more about PILS project at www.pilsn...

Welcome back to the Activist Lawyer podcast! We had a short break to get ready for our next series! Our host, Sarah Henry, will take listeners through season highlights and will touch on what we have coming up for you over the next few months.  Please share and review our podcast and let us know if you have any written pieces for our blog, feedback or suggestions.  You can contact us on info@activ...

It was an absolute pleasure to interview Ms Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders.  Mary discusses her fascinating career devoted to human rights and in particular, those defending human rights around the world.  An excellent listen for anybody interested in working in human rights on an international level.  We are very grateful to Mary for sharing insights into her fundamenta...

Sarah is joined by lawyer India Fahy who is an advocate for Integrated Education in Northern Ireland.  India talks about the importance of moving on from segregated education in Northern Ireland.  While India shares positive news stories and fantastic campaign success,  there is a long way to go if Northern Ireland is to fulfil the aspirations of the Good Friday Agreement in terms of education.  ...

Sarah is joined by Barrister Darren Lalor who specialises in criminal law in Dublin.  Darren talks about his unique journey into law which started in 2008 when Darren worked as a taxi driver in Dublin. Darren will discuss the serious problems arising through the underfunded criminal legal aid system in Ireland, particularly in the District Court. Together with his colleagues across Ireland and fur...

This is a special episode of Activist Lawyer highlighting the fantastic efforts of Dublin-based Lawyer Edel Finn who set up a fundraiser to distribute Ukrainian books to children from Ukraine living in Ireland.  Please listen in for more information on this fantastic initiative and support Edel’s efforts if you can! https://www.gofundme.com/f/books-for-ukrainian-children

Sarah talks with leading human rights solicitor, Kevin Winters of KRW Law in this slightly longer recording of Activist Lawyer.  Kevin has been at the cutting edge of niche criminal appeal work in Northern Ireland and further afield and was instructed in numerous high profile cases.  His work on both historical abuse cases as well as ground-breaking  litigation arising from the Troubles in Norther...

The first episode of 2023 kicks off with Aoife Kelly Desmond, Managing Solicitor at Mercy Law Resource Centre, Dublin.   Aoife talks about transitioning from corporate law into human rights law and discusses the crucial work undertaken at MLRC particularly as Ireland faces a housing and homelessness crisis.    Activism and law in action!

Meet the solicitor who inspired Activist Lawyer, Jonathan McKeown from JMK Solicitors. Jonathan takes us back to Autumn 2020 to talk about the origin of the concept for ‘Activist Lawyer’ as not just a podcast but as an outlet for showcasing and praising the people working to make the lives of the public better not just for today but into the future. Sarah and Jonathan discuss past guests, inspirin...

Sarah is joined by Kevin Hanratty, Director of Human Rights Consortium to discuss the engaging and imperative work his organisation undertakes to advance the development of human rights in Northern Ireland.  The Human Rights Act is up for discussion with a focus on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.  Listeners will gain important insights into how a state human rights review works in line with...

In this weeks episode, our host Sarah, is joined by solicitor Owen Beattie who talks about his journey into human rights, public interest law and criminal defence law before opening his new firm, Owen Beattie Solicitors this year.  Owen provides excellent insights into his current practice touching on his work with families around the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Redress Board. 

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined by Jude Copeland, Legal Technology Specialist, from Cleaver Fulton Rankin who intrigues us with an honest and frank insight into his legal journey, his outstanding work with the LBGTQ+ community, human rights projects and not forgetting – the importance for solicitors to stop time wasting and start using legal technology in practice!

In this episode Sarah is joined by solicitor Qays Sediqi who specialises in human rights law and immigration.  Qays represents clients who boarded the plane destined for Rwanda this year.  He talks about challenging the government regarding removals to Rwanda and his Afghan refugee cases.  Qays speaks candidly about his journey into law which was not without its challenges!  A really important epi...

Are Immigration and Asylum practitioners at breaking point?  Sarah is joined by Dr Jo Wilding who reveals some stark findings through her publications and research on immigration and the legal aid market including capacity for casework and of course funding.   As well as her core research, Jo also discusses her fascinating journey into law.  A true Activist Lawyer experience! 

This month saw the announcement of reforms to penal policies in the Republic of Ireland – changes that have the potential to radically overhaul how the courts, Probation Service and Prison Service deal with those convicted of crimes.   We were delighted to be joined by Saoirse Brady, Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust to talk about the work of this organisation at such a crucial ti...

In this episode, Sarah & Jack are joined by David Renton who is a barrister, and has represented clients in a number of high-profile cases, especially concerning trade union rights and the protection of free speech.