Our trustees
Lord Peter Goldsmith KC (Chair of the Board of Trustees)
Lord (Peter) Goldsmith KC is London Co-Managing Partner and Chair of European and Asian Litigation at Debevoise & Plimpton. A King’s Counsel, he continues to appear in court in the UK and internationally and has led cases in several jurisdictions. He has served on arbitration panels under institutions including the LCIA, ICC, and SIAC.
He brings with him a lifelong commitment to pro bono. Early in his career, he helped establish a legal advice centre in London’s East End. He later founded the Bar Pro Bono Unit (now Advocate) and chaired the cross-profession Access to Justice Foundation, as well as initiating the Attorney General’s pro bono committees. He remains an active pro bono advocate: past work includes representing 300,000 displaced Nigerian citizens before the African Commission on Human Rights and appearing in the Supreme Court of Belize in a constitutional challenge to anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
Richard Atkinson (former President, The Law Society)
Richard Atkinson was the 180th President of the Law Society of England and Wales, which was established in 1825, almost 200 years ago. The Law Society represents, promotes and supports over 200,000 solicitors.
Richard is a managing partner at Tuckers Solicitors LLP and specialises in criminal law, focusing on serious crime litigation. He is a solicitor advocate and has appeared in several high-profile cases.
With over 30-years’ experience, Richard has served as chair of the Law Society Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee and is a current member of their Criminal Law Committee.
Gemma Watts
Gemma Watts is a communications professional with experience in corporate communications, public affairs and legal services. For nearly ten years, she worked for a specialist communications consultancy, and acted for range of companies, individuals and third sector organisations. She has particular expertise in crisis and litigation communications, and advised on responding to complex challenges such as corporate governance, regulatory change, and multichannel communications. For the past 7 years, she has worked for UK and global property groups.
Emma Rehal-Wilde
Emma has been a trustee of LawWorks since 2019. She is the Senior Pro Bono Associate at Baker McKenzie, having worked in the pro bono field since 2006 at various firms. Her role at Baker McKenzie involves leading the pro bono programme in their London office, and supporting the Europe, Middle East and Africa offices in their pro bono efforts. She has also been on the organising committee for national pro bono conferences, and has spoken on panels covering pro bono management, risk and setting up new projects and clinics. Between 2020 and 2024 she was a lecturer and then senior lecturer in law at London South Bank University, where she was also a supervising solicitor in their legal advice clinic.
Jamie Goldsmith KC
Jamie is a barrister at One Essex Court. In 2015, he founded Pro Bono Connect, which establishes and operates a network of barristers and solicitors willing to collaborate on pro bono cases in the same way as for paid litigation. The scheme, which was brought under Law Works’ governance in 2020, now has almost 100 participating firms and chambers.
Ian Jeffery
Ian Jeffery joined the Law Society as chief executive in September 2022. He was previously the Managing Partner and CEO of Lewis Silkin. Ian joined Lewis Silkin in 1990 and qualified as a solicitor in 1992. He has extensive experience in information technology and intellectual property law and rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a Partner in 1998 and eventually Managing Partner at the age of 37 in 2005.
He led Lewis Silkin as Managing Partner and CEO for 15 years. During this time, he drove the growth of the firm both domestically and internationally, helping establish a reputation for being one of the most innovative large law firms. Ian has also acted as an independent consultant to law firms, professional services organisations and businesses in the legal tech space. In addition, he has sat on boards across different industry sectors.
Deborah Smith
Deborah is a senior legal director in the Digital Assets legal team at Goldman Sachs International. Prior to joining Goldman in 2012, she worked for 12 years at Linklaters in their London, Paris and Dubai offices. She also serves as co-chair of Goldman EMEA Pro Bono Committee and is a founder of the In House Pro Bono Group – a working group dedicated to sharing knowledge, best practice and resources to build and strengthen in house pro bono services. Deborah also serves as a member of the leadership committee of the Forum for US Securities Lawyers in London.
Emma Tunstall
Emma Tunstall is a chartered accountant and member of the finance and operations team for a London-based private equity firm. She has nine years' experience working within the investment management industry, with a focus on infrastructure and private equity. Prior to moving into investment management, Emma worked for an accountancy practice which specialised in providing audit, accountancy, business advisory and tax planning to a diverse client base which included charities.