Hemp & Hemp Wigs

My learned friends, My name is Sam, and I am a barrister at 9 King’s Bench Walk in London. I primarily specialise in criminal and regulatory law, with a growing niche in animal protection law. I also volunteer in a paralegal capacity with Advocates for Animals, a non-profit organisation which is the UK’s first specialist animal protection law firm. When I was a pupil, I made headlines when I refused to wear a traditional horse hair wig and instead opted to make the first ever plant-based legal wig…from hemp. As a vegan, I oppose all forms of animal exploitation, from gratuitous cruelty like bull fighting or fox hunting, to the industrial-scale cruelty of factory farming, to more subtle forms of cruelty which nevertheless involve the ownership and commodification of animal bodies. For me, horse hair is at the latter end. Of course, it is conceivable that there are ways this could be taken without immediate physical pain, but that does not mean it is not exploitation. I refuse to sponsor exploitation by buying expensive items made from animal products as this adds value to the practice of owning them and selling them for parts. As news got out about my wig, I was delighted to find out that there were so many other vegans at, or on their way to, the Bar. As a result, I decided to make the wigs available for all. Any profits from wig sales will ultimately go to causes that use the law to advance animal protection.