My son, Phil Michaels, who has died of cancer aged 42, was a passionate environmental lawyer who, as head of the legal department of Friends of the Earth, made a deep impact on the way environmental law and freedom of information was utilised.
Phil was born in Hendon, north London, and went to the Hall school, followed by Mill Hill. He read social and political sciences at Robinson College, Cambridge, where he met his future wife, Abi Allanson. After qualifying as a lawyer with Theodore Goddard, Phil joined Friends of the Earth in 2001. He led a number of important, high-profile and successful legal challenges, including the campaign to block the dismantling in Hartlepool of a "ghost fleet" of decommissioned US Navy warships, which were packed with asbestos and deadly chemicals.
Continue reading...