I was an anonymous lawyer but I came out of retirement to help families in need

By his own admission Radd Seiger is a "very large human being", but it is his character that leaves the most lasting impression.

The American rose to prominence as adviser to the family of Northamptonshire teenager Harry Dunn, who died when his motorcycle was hit by a car driven by US citizen Anne Sacoolas in 2019.

He ultimately achieved justice for them after a transatlantic diplomatic row, and his efforts to lobby the UK government, US State Department and US president Donald Trump did not go unnoticed, resulting in other families in need seeking his representation.

So how did a self-proclaimed "anonymous lawyer" come to be at the forefront of some of the most high-profile cases of the past decade?

"My neighbour, Harry Dunn, was killed. We were all devastated," remembers Seiger.

The crash that killed Dunn, 19, took place on 27 August 2019, near RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire.

Having left the US Air Force base, Sacoolas's car was driving on the right-hand side of the road when it should have been on the left.

Sacoolas, wife of a US intelligence officer, had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US administration and, in the wake of the crash, left the UK.

Seiger's children had grown up with Dunn, and though he did not know it yet, his quiet retirement in south Northamptonshire was over.

Born in Hawaii to American parents, Seiger moved to the UK at a young age, and his legal career has seen him represent governments and their agencies behind the scenes.

But after knocking on the door of Harry's mother, Charlotte Charles, he would soon be front and centre.

"She had been told that the person who killed Harry had been taken away and there was zero chance of getting justice," Seiger reflects.

"You help your neighbours. I'm a community-minded person and if you can help, you can help."

No-one could have predicted the journey that Dunn's family and Seiger would go on in their quest for justice.

It took them from Downing Street to the High Court, and even an Oval Office meeting with Trump.

"Nobody had ever heard of me," says Seiger.

"Then, all of a sudden, I was taking on a case like that against the most powerful forces in the world.

"I seem to have found myself in a world of helping the most vulnerable people in society.

"It led to people thinking I have a magic wand and could help anybody. My phone hasn't stopped ringing since".

It is no exaggeration.

As well as fighting Dunn's family's corner, he has represented the families of PC Andrew Harper, a police officer dragged to his death behind a getaway car, and Vicky Lovelace-Collins, a paramedic who died after a crash involving a suspect who fled to Turkey.

He has also represented the family of murdered MP Sir David Amess.

Seiger has also served as adviser to the families of the victims of the 2023 Nottingham attacks and Matthew Day, a motorcyclist killed in a crash with a car being driven by a US servicewoman.

Most recently, he has represented Viswashkumar Ramesh, the remarkable sole survivor of last year's Air India plane crash that killed 241 people.

No longer a practising lawyer, his role is primarily as an adviser and spokesman.

"I'm very principled when it comes to right versus wrong," says Seiger.

"Those in authority can get things badly wrong and tend to bully the most vulnerable people in society.

"I've never been able to walk on by if I see a fight in the street or even when I was little, seeing kids being picked on in the playground.

"Donald Trump, I'm told, found me a very intimidating person.

"When I'm advocating for someone, I'm not going to stop until I get what I want."

Seiger, whose brother also lives in Northamptonshire, working in Moulton as a GP, retired in 2018.

While it is not the retirement he imagined, it is a life he is proud to lead.

"I do this completely voluntarily," he says.

"Vulnerable people need help. How on earth can you charge when they call you and say something terrible has happened... I just can't say no.

"Before the Harry Dunn case, my plan was to play golf, spend time with my family and to try and relax.

"It is unrelenting to straddle this little space between victims and authority, but I can't do it without you [the media].

"My plan is to help people. I'll continue to do that."

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