City alumnus Professor Meeran is head of the International Litigation Department at Leigh Day and is known across the world for his ground-breaking work on parent company liability.
By Mr John Stevenson (Senior Communications Officer), Published
The City Law School has appointed Richard Meeran as an Honorary Professor for a 3-year term which began on 1st January 2023.
Professor Meeran heads the International & Group Litigation Department at Leigh Day and is known across the world for his ground-breaking work on parent company liability.
Executive Dean of The City Law School, Professor Richard Ashcroft, has welcomed the appointment:
"We are honoured that Richard has joined us as an Honorary Professor. We look forward to developing our relationship with Richard to the benefit of our School, Staff and Students across our wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses"
Professor Meeran was made a partner at Leigh Day in 1991 and has been instrumental in developing the firm’s strategic litigation against multinationals for human rights abuses in the Global South.
Landmark jurisdiction victories
He pioneered claims against UK based multinationals, Cape PLC for 7,500 South African asbestos and Thor Chemicals for South African workers poisoned by mercury. This included two landmark jurisdiction victories in the House of Lords, Connelly v RTZ Corporation Plc [1997] 3 WLR 373 and Lubbe & Others v Cape Plc 2000 1 WLR 1545. He was the winner of the Liberty/Justice “Human Rights Lawyer of the Year” award (2002).
Professor Meeran represented 31 indigenous Peruvian environmental protesters, alleging torture and other human rights abuses in a case against Monterrico Metals plc. The obtaining of a worldwide freezing injunction for the claimants broke new ground, Tabra & Others v Monterrico Metals Plc [2009] EWHC 2475; [2010] EWHC 3228.
Professor Meeran’s preference, wherever feasible, is to facilitate access to justice in victims' local courts.
Between 2004 and September 2016, Professor Meeran worked with the South African Legal Resources Centre, Legal Aid South Africa and South African attorney, Zanele Mbuyisa on a series of cases against Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti, for thousands of gold miners suffering the lung disease, silicosis. This led to the establishment of the Q(h)ubeka settlement trust. He is presently working with Zanele Mbuyisa on a class action in South Africa for tens of thousands of Zambian children poisoned by lead from a former Anglo American mine.
Professor Meeran is at the forefront of Business & Human Rights law, having presented on numerous occasions at the UN Forum on Business & Human Rights and other international meetings. He has more than 60 publications in this area, and he is the editor of Human Rights Litigation against Multinationals in Practice, published by Oxford University Press in 2021.
Professor Meeran says he is “pleased to be joining The City Law School to share my experiences and knowledge with the lawyers of the future”.
“I am a proud holder of the School’s Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). City's offices are just up the road from Leigh Day's office in Clerkenwell so I look forward to being part of the City community."