This week, Adrian is joined by the brilliant Dr. Anna Willetts, partner at Gunnercooke LLP, environmental criminal defence lawyer and, in her former life, a geologist with a PhD in landfill clay permeability.
Together, they unpack Anna’s refreshingly non-traditional route into law and explore how science, waste and Wellington boots led to a courtroom career that’s anything but conventional.
This conversation explores Anna’s dual-life career journey and some fascinating themes along the way:
- How a childhood fascination with rocks (and a quartz geode from her dad) sparked a love of geology and ultimately led to a PhD in landfill engineering;
- Why Anna left a successful career as an environmental consultant to retrain as a lawyer and how she still gets to keep her boots muddy;
- What it’s really like defending businesses accused of environmental crimes and how she balances legal precision with scientific expertise;
- How the waste industry has evolved from “holes in the ground” to complex, highly regulated systems and what that means for clients today; and
- Why the UK’s environmental law hasn’t changed as much as you might think, but the case law, interpretations and sentencing have moved rapidly.
And finally, stay tuned to hear why Anna believes good environmental lawyering starts with understanding the science and how clay, crime scenes and courtroom drama all come together in the world of waste.
