Walker Syachalinga

Walker is a trainee in the personal injury department assisting Vijay Ganapathy on industrial disease and complex injury cases arising from exposure to asbestos.

Prior to starting his training contract in September 2021, Walker joined the international team at Leigh Day in 2019 as a paralegal. In that role, Walker:

• Assisted Martyn Day and Oliver Holland on the landmark Vedanta v Lungowe case in which 2,577 Zambian villagers successfully settled a claim for damage to their land and waterways from copper mining effluent and emissions;
• Assisted Richard Meeran in an environmental claim involving a group of Colombian campesinos who secured an urgent interim freezing injunction against oil company Amerisur Resources Plc;
• Assisted Martyn Day with cases on behalf of political activists living in the UK for their alleged targeting with foreign spyware.

Before joining Leigh Day, Walker interned at and volunteered with various human rights organisations including Friends of the Earth UK, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), Liberty (National Council for Civil Liberties) and Redress.

Education

• LLB (Hons) - University of Kent
• Called to the Bar of England and Wales - Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
• LLM in International Law - University College London

Academic Prizes

• John Kish Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Kent Law School
• Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Overseas Placement Fund
• IBA Education Trust Internship Fund

Appointments

• Walker campaigns on issues of climate change and road safety as London Cycling Campaign’s Climate Safe Streets Champion for the London Borough of Greenwich.