Helen Mitcheson

Council Member

Helen is an environmental solicitor practicing in England and Wales and is part of the Environmental Law team at Freeths as well as being co-director of the not-for-profit Cet Law which specialises in furthering law and policy to protect cetaceans.  Prior to qualifying as a solicitor Helen worked as a marine mammal scientist and environmental consultant in the UK, the United States and Canada.  It was two summers spent in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, learning about the plight of the North Atlantic Right Whale that opened Helen’s eyes to the importance of the interaction between scientific knowledge and law, and in particular the effective communication of this with regulators and policymakers.  This was a major factor prompting Helen to pursue a career in environmental law.  Helen has an MRes in Marine Mammal Science from the University of St Andrews and an LLM in Environmental Law from Newcastle University.  She regularly presents on the interaction between marine mammal science and law, including at both marine mammal and legal conferences.  Helen is also a guest lecturer on this topic at the University of St Andrews.   Helen also has a number of roles within the UK Environmental Law Association, including being the founder and convenor of the Marine Working Party and she is a qualified marine mammal medic with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue.