Show Notes
What if rivers, forests, and even individual trees had their own legal rights? In this thought-provoking episode, host Becky Annison speaks with Paul Powlesland – barrister, founder of Lawyers for Nature, and leading advocate for the legal rights of nature – about a revolutionary movement transforming our relationship with the natural world.
Paul explains how the "rights of nature" movement goes beyond passing new laws, aiming to fundamentally reshape how we view and protect the environment. Drawing on global examples and his own front-line experiences, Paul shows how granting legal rights to nature is already making a real difference. He also shares how lawyers from any field, not just environmental specialists, can become "guardians of nature", and why rights on paper must be matched by real enforcement. Paul makes the case for legal personhood for rivers, forests, and landscapes to empower communities and hold polluters accountable.
If you have ever wondered how legal innovation could help solve environmental crises – or how ordinary people can help protect nature – this episode is for you. Discover how every saved tree and every legal victory is building a movement to redefine the 21st century. Tune in for a fascinating conversation that will inspire you to see both law and nature in a new light.
More from The Hearing – A Legal Podcast
After nearly 8 years, just shy of 190 episodes, and countless conversations across the legal world, The Hearing signs off with a special, full‑team finale. In this reflective and heartfelt episode, the podcast's co-founder and editor, Ben Clayton, brings together the current hosts and producers – Kaley Botting, Yasmin Sheikh, Janelle Wrigley, Becky Annison, Teneé Frazier and Christina Lynn – for an open conversation about the stories, challenges, surprises, and stand‑out moments that shaped the show.
In this episode, host Teneé Frazier and Roger Horner, a municipal law expert at Practical Law, discuss the contentious topic of book banning.
Is your duty of care climate‑ready? Extreme weather, shifting regulations and liability exposure are no longer environmental side notes – they're core to competent legal advice across a range of practice areas.
This episode features a conversation with Jodi Ettenberg, a former lawyer who left her corporate practice in 2008 to travel the world and become a successful travel writer and entrepreneur. Host Janelle Wrigley explores Jodi's unconventional journey from billing 3,000 hours as a first-year attorney in New York to building Legal Nomads, a pioneering travel blog that evolved into a thriving business serving a global community.
This episode examines the post-Covid trend among many employers to increase the number of days staff are expected to attend their place of work. Host Yasmin Sheikh sits down with UK employment law expert Kate Dodd to discuss the evolving landscape of workplace culture and the legal considerations surrounding hybrid work. Kate is a partner at Pinsent Masons and heads up Brook Graham – their equality, diversity and inclusion consultancy.