LRI advice giving model

Liaison Officers

During the climate negotiations, LRI lawyers (the ‘Liaison Officers’), talk delegates through legal issues and provide ad-hoc assistance. If more complex substantive advice, additional research or specific legal expertise is required they write up a formal query and forward it to the LRI ‘Situation Room’. There the query is matched with an available expert adviser. The resulting legal opinion is reviewed and returned to the requester. The Liaison Officer provide further explanations and clarifications.

Situation Room

During climate negotiation sessions LRI operates a ‘Situation Room’ in the London offices of the city firm Simmons & Simmons. A team of mostly volunteer lawyers forward the legal queries drafted by the Liaison Officers to a legal expert with the appropriate expertise and subsequently review the resulting legal opinion. They undertake additional research and produce a daily update on the negotiations.

Legal Advisers

LRI’s network of legal advisers comprises more than 150 lawyers from law firms, barrister chambers, academia and NGOs in over ten different jurisdictions. They have expertise in a wide range of areas including public international law, international environmental law, treaty law, human rights, trade, insurance, carbon trading, intellectual property or maritime law.