Lotta Teale is an independent consultant working on access to justice and rule of law.

Teale is qualified as a barrister in England and Wales and has 14 years’ experience working in the sector. She was senior manager on the justice systems support programme in Pakistan, and before senior managing policy officer for global legal empowerment with the Open Society Justice Initiative. Particular areas of specialization include Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Egypt, gender, mediation, and the scale-up of services nationwide. Teale previously managed the Justice Initiative’s legal empowerment work in Sierra Leone, setting up a nationwide paralegal network, across several organisations, recognised by government, and serving 36% of the country. Prior to the Open Society Foundations, Teale worked in Sierra Leone as gender-based violence legal program manager with the International Rescue Committee, as a consultant with the International Centre for Transitional Justice focusing on access to justice for women, and as special assistant to the registrar at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. She worked with a group of women activists to draft, lobby for, and facilitate the passage of legislation improving the position of women through the Sierra Leone Parliament, which became law in 2007, and subsequently assisted the Government of Sierra Leone in implemention.