In celebration of Brick Court’s 100th birthday in 2021, we are proud to present this series of programmes featuring past and present members of chambers in conversation, discussing their experience and experiences – in practice, on the bench and in all sorts of other places that a career in law has taken them.
We hope that these programmes will be of interest and use to barristers, solicitors, judges, law students … or indeed anyone with an interest in the law.
Podcast production and editing by Adam Batstone and Nick Carter of Adam Batstone Media and Communication
05/03/21
In this first episode, Helen Davies QC talks to Sir Nicholas Green (Green LJ). Sadly, given lockdown restrictions, their conversation was recorded remotely. Their wide-ranging discussion of life in practice, at Brick Court and beyond takes in:
Sir Nicholas Green is a Lord Justice of Appeal and Chair of the Law Commission.
After swimming for England and a career in academia, Nick Green was called to the bar in 1986, and joined Brick Court Chambers in 1990. Practising predominantly in European and competition law, public and constitutional law, he took silk in 1998. He was Chair of the Bar in 2010, and Joint Head of Chambers from 2011 until he went to the High Court Bench in 2013. In 2018, he was promoted to the Court of Appeal, and appointed as Chair of the Law Commission.
Helen Davies QC is Joint Head of Brick Court Chambers.
Helen Davies was called to the bar in 1991, joining Brick Court as a pupil in 1992. Her practice encompasses much of the breadth of Brick Court’s work, from heavy commercial litigation to competition law and Euro work. She took silk in 2008, and became Joint Head of Chambers in 2013 - one of the first female heads of a magic circle set.
Links to organisations discussed:
The Bar Council
The Law Commission
The Advocacy Training Council and its toolkits
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25/03/21
In this second episode (again, recorded remotely), David Anderson QC and Maya Lester QC share views and experiences on “Stepping outside the law”.
Why and how do some lawyers step outside the law? How does legal life prepare one for public life? What happens when law and politics meet, and when might each need to give way? Where and how can one have the most impact – in the courtroom or outside it? What do lawyers bring to the House of Lords?
And why are foreign spooks jealous of the British (is it really James Bond)?
Join David and Maya as they discuss these, and a host of other, questions.
Lord Anderson of Ipswich KBE QC is a leading silk in public and constitutional, human rights, EU and regulatory law. As Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation from 2011-2017, his reviews into investigatory powers and intelligence-handling prompted major changes in UK law and practice. Having been named as Halsbury’s Legal Personality of the Year, and as one of the Evening Standard’s 1000 most influential Londoners, he was knighted in 2018 and appointed to the House of Lords as a cross-bench peer. He also sits on the Courts of Appeal of Guernsey and Jersey, and chairs UCL’s European Institute and the international conflict resolution charity Inter-Mediate.
Maya Lester QC was called to the Bar in 2000 and took silk in 2016. As the directories put it, she is “Queen of the Sanctions Bar without a doubt” and "owns the world of sanctions". She founded and co-writes europeansanctions.com, the leading online resource on sanctions with over 8000 followers worldwide, and has given evidence on sanctions to a number of parliamentary committees. She practises in public and administrative, European and competition, human rights, public international and sanctions law.
Relevant links:
David Anderson QC
EU Sanctions
Maya Lester QC Twitter
Maya Lester QC LinkedIn
Brick Court Chambers LinkedIn
05/07/21
This third episode brings together two titans of the law – Sir Sydney Kentridge QC and Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption.
The relaxation of lockdown restrictions allowed us to bring these two greats together, face to face, to discuss their careers, their cases against each other, trial advocacy vs appellate advocacy, learning how to cross-examine … and whether or not one should keep score! Conversation of course turned to Sydney’s famous cases in South Africa, and whether lawyers can and should seek to bring about political change, as well as to Jonathan’s appointment direct to the Supreme Court, and the extent to which retired judges should speak out on public issues.
Join Sydney and Jonathan as they discuss these, and a host of other, topics.
Sir Sydney Kentridge KCMG QC SC is widely regarded as one of the great advocates of the 20th century. His practice in South Africa, before he moved to Brick Court, covered all areas of law, though he is most famous for having represented numerous high-profile anti-apartheid figures including three Nobel Peace Prize winners – Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela (at both the Treason Trial and the Prison Trial) and Desmond Tutu – and the family of Steve Biko at the inquest into his death in police custody. Having moved to England and Brick Court Chambers in 1978, Sydney then enjoyed a pre-eminent career at the English bar, retiring only after celebrating his 90th birthday by appearing before the Supreme Court.
Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption OBE QC FSA FRHistS has famously been described as the cleverest man in Britain. He enjoyed a 25-year career in silk, becoming one of the dominant figures at the Commercial Bar and, as time went on, the most widely sought-after barrister in Britain for any important case of any kind. His appointment direct to the Supreme Court was announced in 2011, an appointment that he took up after the (successful) conclusion of Berezovsky v Abramovich. He retired from the Supreme Court in December 2018, having had, in his seven years in the court, an enormous influence on English law. Throughout his career at the bar, he maintained his other career, as a medieval historian, publishing regularly and winning the Wolfson Prize in 2009.
Relevant links:
Brick Court Chambers
Sir Sydney Kentridge QC
Sir Sydney Kentridge QC Wikipedia
Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption Wikipedia
