Olivia Loxley
Pro Bono Counsel
Olivia leads our global Pro Bono practice, advising clients across a wide range of human rights and access to justice issues.
Pro Bono Counsel
Olivia leads our global Pro Bono practice, advising clients across a wide range of human rights and access to justice issues.
Language - English
Jurisdictions - England & Wales,
United States (State of New York),
Australia (State of Western Australia; Federal Courts of Australia)
Olivia is an experienced public interest lawyer with a focus on protecting human rights and securing access to justice for vulnerable clients. She specialises in forced displacement and regularly acts for asylum seekers and refugees who are displaced through persecution, conflict or natural disasters.
Olivia brings a holistic approach to cases and client relationships, complementing her legal advice with practical guidance and a problem-solving mindset. She is experienced in working with clients with complex trauma histories, and embeds the principles of trauma-informed lawyering across the firm’s global pro bono practice.
In addition to her casework with individuals, Olivia designs, builds and scales pro bono projects to meet unmet legal need in the UK and abroad, drawing on resources and expertise from across Stephenson Harwood, our NGO and charity partners, our commercial clients and the wider legal sector to innovate the delivery of legal services to people in need. Notably, Olivia has developed and supported a number of significant projects to uphold and strengthen the rule of law around the world, including a number of strategic litigation matters and law reform projects to reduce or abolish the use of the death penalty around the world, and has received international recognition for her work in this space.
Asylum, refugee rights and forced displacement
Representing forcibly displaced clients in proceedings before the Home Office and/or immigration tribunals including applications for asylum, family reunion and humanitarian resettlement schemes
Capital punishment litigation
Supporting on capital defence litigation in several U.S. states to challenge human rights abuses in the use of the death penalty
Rights of women in prison
Advising and representing women in prison who are seeking to establish or maintain contact with their children during and after their incarceration
Legal tech and innovation
Designing, developing and implementing legal tech solutions to tackle large-scale unmet legal need or strategic litigation challenges to improve access to justice for vulnerable defendants
Public international law
Acting for a government client to delimit permanent maritime boundaries between two States via compulsory conciliation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
