Jonny Buckley

Jonny specialises in cases relating to human rights abuses and environmental damage involving multinational corporations based in the UK and South Africa.

Jonny has worked at Leigh Day since 2007, when he joined the international department as a paralegal and then as a trainee. He qualified as a solicitor in 2017.

Alongside Richard Meeran, Jonny currently represents 103 residents of two quilombola communities in Bahia, Brazil who are bringing environmental pollution claims against English mining company Brazil Iron. In 2025, the High Court and Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Claimants, who successfully resisted an attempt by Brazil Iron to challenge the jurisdiction of the English court to hear the case on forum non conveniens grounds.

Jonny is also currently working with Richard Meeran and South African attorney Zanele Mbuyisa on a class action against Anglo American South Africa Ltd in the Johannesburg High Court on behalf of Zambian communities living in the vicinity of the Kabwe lead mine who are suffering from lead poisoning.

During his time at Leigh Day, Jonny has worked on a number of high-profile successful corporate accountability cases, including:

• litigation in the South African courts on behalf of 4365 former gold miners who contracted silicosis during their employment of Anglo American mines in South Africa, resulting in a landmark settlement establishing the Q(h)ubeka Trust in 2016.
• representing anti-asbestos campaigners whose network was allegedly infiltrated by an industry-engaged corporate spy employed by K2 Intelligence Ltd, which resulted in the payment of substantial damages to the claimants by K2 in 2018.
• claims against African Barrick Gold (Acacia Mining) regarding injuries and deaths at the North Mara mine in Tanzania, which settled out of court in 2015.
• a large group action involving over 30,000 claimants from Cote d'lvoire against oil trader Trafigura over the dumping of allegedly toxic waste in the city of Abidjan, which was settled out of court in 2009.

Prior to converting to law in London, Jonny completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne, where he graduated with Bachelor’s degrees in Commerce and Arts with Honours in French.  

Jonny is fluent in French and also speaks Italian and Portuguese.  

Jonny is one of the co-founders of Leigh Day’s LGBTQ+ Network.

Presentations

Jonny has spoken on corporate accountability and environmental issues at the following panel events:

• 22nd Brazilian Congress on International Law, Natal, Brazil, August 2024
• Clean Trade, Transnational Institute and Leigh Day seminar: "Human Rights and Natural Resources", London, October 2023
• The Leigh Day/Earthlife and Ministry of Justice of Namibia NGO Workshops: Holding Multinationals to Account for Human Rights Abuses and Environmental Damage, December 2020 and November 2019
• 1st Mano River Union People’s Forum on Corporate Accountability, Makeni, Sierra Leone, March 2019
• Warwick University’s Centre for Law, Regulation & Governance of the Global Economy (GLOBE), Climate Change Law, Litigation and Governance, Warwick, February 2018.