April 2026 Newsletter

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by

Legal Voices for the Future
in

Dear LVF Members

Welcome to LVF’s April newsletter!

This edition of Legal Voices for the Future’s newsletter includes: 

  • Our upcoming events 
  • Reflections on our April Knowledge Session on Animal Welfare Litigation
  • Events covering climate and environmental-related topics
  • Job/volunteering opportunities members may be interested in

See you next month, 

Upcoming events

LVF Education 

  • Save the date: LVF’s next knowledge session will be taking place on 4 June 2026 on Freedom of Information requests and their role in biodiversity/climate work (exact title tbc)

Find more on our website and Ticketsource page, and see details of our past events.

🌿Do you have a great idea for your own LVF Knowledge Session?
Let us know by completing this form and we will be in touch!🌿

LVF Community

  • Stay tuned for more information on our LVF 2026 Community Field trip and Legal Career Event – we will share more information in the next newsletters!

🌿LVF is always thinking of fun new community events and we would love to hear from our members if you would like a film night!🌿

Reflections on Past Events:

LVF Education

April Knowledge Session: Overlooked Strategies – The Role of Animal Welfare Litigation in Climate Change Advocacy 

On 15 April, we hosted a knowledge session on Climate Change and Animal Welfare Impacts led by LVF member Charlotte  Edgar. 

Charlotte examined the complex intersections between climate and animal welfare, and especially the expanding front of climate litigation involving intensive animal agriculture in the UK and beyond. Conclusion: animal welfare law is often under-utilised by lawyers in the UK, and overlooked in climate change advocacy. Future-proof and climate-friendly solutions for food systems and farming practices will need to see animal welfare integrated in climate policy and planning decisions.

In a vibrant panel discussion, our speakers then shared insights from their practice, advice for lawyers aspiring to act in this field, and their thoughts on future trends in animal law. David Wolfe KC spoke about agro-ecological/organic farming, arguing for a nuanced view of animal agriculture, as well as the core legal arguments engaged in recent judicial review cases that require lawyers to consider legal analysis in its practical context. Steph David (“The Law of Net Zero and Nature Positive” (LLP, 2025)) discussed the legal implications of intensive livestock units and their upstream effects in light of Finch for the climate space, and what this could mean for future planning applications. Edie Bowles (The Animal Law Foundation) addressed the potential tension (or synergy) between climate change litigation and animal welfare, and highlighted that the food system of the future needs to be not only sustainable, but also kind.

The session’s participants then had an opportunity to discuss an engaging excerpt from “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity”, as translated and adapted for modern times by Anson Laytner and Dan Bridge. This thousand-year-old fable encourages us to critically examine our relationship with animals and the natural world. ​

A key takeaway of the evening: the importance of thinking outside the ‘lawyer box’, an essential mindset for anyone working in, or aspiring to work in, animal law and climate change!

Please find the slides of the Knowledge Session here. 

LVF Community

April Book Club

On 25 April, we hosted our first book club of the year on the topic of Rivers. As with our previous session, we prepared a list of books closely or loosely connected to rivers, of which participants could choose one that interested them the most:  

🏞️Is a River Alive by Robert Macfarlane 

🏞️Waterlog by Roger Deakin 

🏞️A Sleepwalk on the Severn by Alice Oswald 

🏞️The Flow by Amy-Jane Beer 

🏞️Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The book club sparked a rich conversation on memory, ecology, rights of nature, and the law. Together, we explored the personal connections that we have with rivers all over the world, reflected on the increasingly fraught relationship between rivers and humans, and discussed how the law could be used to protect rivers. 

We ended the session with a creative writing exercise: participants were invited to write “what a River would say”. The result was a moving blend of emotional reflection, grief, and hope. 

Participants mentioned a number of valuable resources, some of which we share below for our members who are interested in rights of nature, or ecology more generally: 

🌿LVF hosts a bi-annual book club for members – if you would like to join at our next book club or contribute to ideas for the themes, get in touch via email or Linkedin!🌿

Other events

  • 13 and 16 April 2026: BNG Walk at Watercress Farm (Bristol). Wilding and BNG-focused walks are being organised by Belmont estate. Please find more information here for the walk on 13/4 (networking and rewilding), and here for the 16/4 talk (BNG focus).
  • 28 April 2026 1-4PM: TechUK Climate Policy Forum (London). Day event covering climate policy developments in the tech sector. More information here.
  • 29 April 2026 6-8PM: Power for the People Community Evening (London). Greenpeace Lambeth is organising an informal event where you can swap clothes, there will be stalls on how to live more sustainably and a talk on how “power for the people” can look like locally. For more information see here.
  • Every Thursday, learn Green Skills volunteering at R-Urban (London): R-Urban is an eco-civic hub located in Poplar and aims to develop civic resilience in the face of climate change through a public programme of events, workshops and infrastructures. On Thursdays they organise workshops to teach green skills like no dig gardening, composting and harvesting. See more information here.
  • 8 May 2026 10-11am, Corporate Climate and Human Rights Responsibility (online), online webinar hosted by Human Rights Law Centre. Speakers at the event include LVF Co-founder Margherita Cornaglia. See more information here.
  • 12 May 2026, 6-8PM, Book Launch: A Research Agenda for  LSE London (in person), event held by LSE for the book launch of Professor Megan Bowman and Dr Laura Mai’s book which brings together legal and regulatory voices to debate sustainable finance through insights for research and practice around the world. More information here.
  • 14-16 May 2026 4-10PM,  Moth 2026 Festival, LSE (in person), weekend event with talks, film screenings and performances by scientists, lawyers, artisans and advocates. More information here.
  • 18 May 2026 6.30-8PM, The Climate Trial: Law and Justice on a Melting Planet, (in person), event hosted by GRI LSE on Lliuya v RWE and the book by Noah Walker-Crawford that provides the first inside account of one of the most significant climate lawsuits ever brought. More information here.
  • 18 May 2026 6.15-7.30PM: Surviving the new geography of climate change (London). Event on climate and geopolitics led by Arthur Snell and Peter Frankopan. See more information and purchase of tickets (£16.96) here.
  • 5 April – 27 June 2026, London Wildlife Trust Nature walks (in person),  guided walks organised in and around London focusing on different species e.g. bird watching. See more information here.
  • Ongoing during 2026 (London): Birkbeck and LSE have a number of events as part of their climate festivals running throughout the year. See also Climate Connection for more London climate events.  
  • Ongoing: Gresham College has numerous recordings on past lectures and talks that have been held on law, environment, business and science.

If you go to any of these events – let us know! We’d love to hear your experience and share it with other Legal Voices members on our Linkedin Community Group and website.

Job / volunteering opportunities

Thinking about pursuing a new job or internship opportunity this spring? The following may be of interest (please not we are not recommending or endorsing these roles):

  • Programme Officer, ClientEarth, (London and Brussels), apply by 3 May.
  • The School of Nature Law, a 6 month online course running from June-December 2026 covering rights of nature, nature centric governance, guardianship of nature and legal imagination. More information here. Apply here by 6 May.
  • Paralegal, Richard Buxton Solicitors, (Cambridge, London). More information here. Apply by 15 May.
  • Lawyer, The Environment Agency (various locations across UK), apply here by 17 May.

You can find more opportunities via The Planetary Lawyer Project on LinkedIn here or follow one of our founders, Margherita Cornaglia, who often reposts exciting opportunities. 

We also have a list of organisations who may be offering volunteering, job or internship opportunities on our website. If you know of any opportunities which might be of interest to LVF Members, or if you start a new role which you found through our newsletter, please give us a shout!

Last but not least – check out our website and blog for more information about LVF’s work, its Stewardship Committee, resources, videos and more!

If you’re feeling inspired, or looking for a space to express some thoughts on a topic which might be of interest to LVF members, we’d love for you to write a blog for us! Check out our blog post guidelines here and get in touch via legalvoicesforthefuture@gmail.com.

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