I’m delighted to have joined Systemic Justice in July 2025 as its new Head of Legal.
Following on from the organisation’s inaugural Head of Legal, Jonathan McCully, I have big shoes to fill. Luckily, I was given a gracious handover period and have been warmly welcomed and very well supported by everyone at Systemic Justice – complete with a beautiful bouquet before my first day.
I was thrilled, as you can imagine. But my real excitement stems from having the opportunity to learn more about, and to further, Systemic Justice’s inspirational vision and mission for change: ensuring that communities affected by racial, social, and economic injustice can use their power to seek justice in the courts, on their own terms.
What the organisation stands for resonates with my own path and values. The driving force of my career has always been my deep passion for equality, rights, and justice. Over the past eleven years, I have focused on achieving systemic change: first in the context of whistleblowing in Ireland, then in racial justice strategic litigation and advocacy efforts across Europe.
Three aspects of Systemic Justice’s approach particularly stand out to me – and they also align closely with the methods that I use in my own work and when training other lawyers:
1. It’s all about power dynamics
Systemic Justice acknowledges that racial, social, and economic injustice is often rooted in power imbalances, stemming from systems of oppression, including colonialism, classism, and racism. These power imbalances are present in every aspect of society, including the justice system and access to it.
Too often, this also means that those most harmed by racial, social, and economic injustice are denied full protection under the law, which, in turn, perpetuates these injustices. Community-driven litigation helps tackle this. It recognises that:
- those who are affected by injustice are best placed to identify both what’s wrong and what should be done to remedy it; and
- it’s only right that they are the owners and leaders of any legal action taken.
It’s crucial to bridge the gap that can exist between affected community members and lawyers and/or traditional strategic litigation. This includes making sure that the community’s agenda is the one driving the types of any cases taken and how they are pursued.
One way this comes to life is through Systemic Justice’s Community of Practice – a network of lawyers who understand and practise these approaches.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have already attended its third retreat, this year in scenic Montenegro. Jonathan and I were joined by six thoughtful, passionate professionals who took time out of their summer plans to attend. We considered privilege and positionality and how to connect better with affected communities. We also started planning our next year of learning and growing together. Thirty organisations are already part of the community, and I look forward to its expansion and continued success.
2. The clue is in the name
Systemic Justice recognises that power imbalances need to be addressed and reset at the level of systems and processes to effectively tackle their permeating nature.
In litigation, then, it’s important to demonstrate that many of these injustices are systemic problems with widespread impact that most likely need structural reforms to resolve them. This can include taking collective legal proceedings and gathering statistics and other evidence of patterns of wrongdoing.
Equally important is ‘movement-lawyering’ – working arm in arm with social movements. Much of the real systemic change we have seen over the years – whether it’s equal voting rights or the end of racial segregation in the States, for example – has come from the collective power and strength of movements and the cultural, political, and narrative shifts that they have fostered.
In the coming months, the legal team and I will be providing workshops and developing further resources to continue to build community power and knowledge, with a view to co-developing meaningful litigation that takes these factors into account. This will include closed workshops with specific groups as well as wider workshops focusing on climate justice. The climate justice workshops are currently being planned to take place in the Netherlands in October and in France in December.
3. Fairness must start from within
Systemic Justice seeks not only to build the power of affected communities to radically transform how the law works, but also to be a values-led organisation that models and integrates fairness and justice in how it works internally.
I’ve already attended an organisational healing session within the first couple of weeks in my role. This type of work is so important on many levels, including because of the primary and secondary trauma that affected communities, grassroots organisations, and those who support them carry.
So: I’m excited to be part of the team! And whether you are a member of an affected group, a like-minded lawyer, or a movement-builder, please feel free to get in touch. I hope we can work together to continue making systemic justice a reality.
