Lydia O'Connor-Butler
Associate Solicitor
Lydia is an associate solicitor in the international and group litigation team, specialising in environmental and human rights claimant-side litigation.
Lydia works on environmental litigation, including representing a group of Malawian villagers whose homes and livelihoods were devastated by catastrophic flooding. The legal action seeks accountability for the destruction of the village and aims to secure redress for the affected community.
In addition to her environmental work, Lydia also works on litigation concerning forced labour in global supply chains. She assists a group of Burmese migrant workers in proceedings arising from allegations of forced labour and debt bondage at a garment factory producing F&F fashion products. The case raises critical questions about corporate responsibility and human rights due diligence in outsourced manufacturing.
Speaking engagements
- OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector (2025): Panellist on restorative justice for garment workers
- UN Responsible Business & Human Rights Forum, Bangkok (2025): Facilitator for the Business and Human Rights Legal Lab
- UNDP Regional Legal Workshop on SLAPPs (2025): Training facilitator for judges and practitioners across South and Southeast Asia
Sewing seeds for change in the global fashion industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Lydia O'Connor-Butler and Oliver Holland discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed poor practice impacting workers at the bottom of global fashion supply chains and what is being done to address it.
‘Black Lives Matter’ One Year On: Mind The Gap
In Black History Month, Lydia O’Connor-Butler discusses the race pay gap and the changes needed to make reporting compulsory.