The Next Wave of Impact Litigation and its Implications for the Future (MEMBER-ONLY)

She is dual qualified, being admitted to practice in England & Wales and South Africa.

Philippa trained and qualified at an international law firm in South Africa, before moving to the UK and requalifying. Philippa has varied experience in large complex cross-border litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters including maritime arbitration, construction arbitration, commercial high court litigation, financial services litigation, regulatory investigations and professional negligence disputes.

Philippa is now leveraging her litigation experience to advise clients on managing dispute risks pertaining to Environmental, Social and Governance (including human rights) issues.

Kate Handley is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Biodiversity Law Centre, an environmental law nonprofit based in South Africa that seeks to us ethe law to protect and restore indigenous species and ecosystems in Southern Africa. In this role, Kate provides strategic legal advice and support to a range of NGO clients, including most recently reaching a landmark settlement agreement in litigation aimed at securing conservation measures for critically endangered African Penguins. Prior to founding the Biodiversity Law Centre, Kate worked in private practice, advising corporate and private clients on various environmental, administrative and constitutional law issues. Kate holds a Bachelor of Laws and Masters in Environmental Law from the University of Cape Town.

Jack has almost 40 years’ experience of commercial litigation and problem solving, focusing on creating value, strategy and achieving successful outcomes. Jack started his career at Freshfields, based in London and Hong Kong, where he advised a range of claimant clients across a variety of industries and different jurisdictions. In 1994, Jack joined PwC, where he was a partner and Head of Litigation until retiring from PwC in 2017 – during his 23 years at PwC, Jack resolved more than $100 billion of major litigation and regulatory disputes across 35 jurisdictions – he was described by a leading KC as “the best in-house litigator in the UK”.

Jack’s deep expertise, extensive market knowledge and wide international network have been critical in building Aristata’s opportunity pipeline.  Aristata is the world’s first Impact-focussed litigation fund, dedicated to driving positive and measurable social and environmental change together with attractive financial returns. Its mission is to create a safer and more equitable world by financing legal cases that empower historically marginalised voices, equalise unjust power dynamics and catalyse systemic change that protects the environment, people and communities.  Aristata has invested in a portfolio of commercial litigation cases across a range of sectors (climate change, human rights, equality, justice reform, employment, shareholders’ rights, governance and discrimination) where law can be used as a powerful tool for social and environmental change.

Stéphane is a Senior Partner at Trinity. Prior to joining Trinity in 2021, Stéphane was a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills and held global key roles, including Global Head of Mining, co-Chair of the Africa practice, Chair of Global Mining, Co-head of Business and Human Rights group and Head of the Crisis Management group.

Stéphane has extensive experience in Africa, having lived and worked in Gabon for seven years and having almost exclusively advised in relation to matters in Francophone Africa.

Stéphane has over 35 years of experience as a projects and transactional lawyer, primarily in the mining, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure sectors, with a particular focus on the negotiation of complex arrangements with governments, the structuring of investments between multinationals and States, crisis prevention and management and dispute resolution. Stéphane has also built a strong practice advising businesses on Business and Human Rights (BHRs), CSR and Vigilance strategies and how they can align their activities with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Legal guides consistently rank Stéphane in the top tier. He is the only lawyer singled out by Chambers Global for its highest Senior Statesman ranking in four categories including for Projects & Energy and BHRs (International – France) those past 4 years including in the last 2025 rankings. Stéphane also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chambers Africa Awards 2021 in recognition of his contribution to the legal profession.