In Conversation with Lord Phillips and Sir Christopher Clarke

25/04/25

In this episode of the Brick Court Chambers centenary podcast series two legal greats discuss their reminiscences of Brick Court and the bar and their experience in the field of public inquiries.

After a career in practice at Brick Court as a commercial advocate, Nicholas Phillips, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, went on to a judicial career of unparalleled success, occupying all the major judicial offices. He is a former Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice, Senior Law Lord (the last) and President of the Supreme Court (the first). Amongst (many) other public inquiries, he presided over the BSE Inquiry into Mad Cow Disease from 1998 to 2000.

Sir Christopher Clarke was Head of Chambers from 1990 to 2004. In practice, he was one of the leading commercial advocates of his day, and acted as Counsel in a number of inquiries. Most famously, he was Counsel to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry for six years. As a judge he sat in the Commercial Court for eight years and in the Court of Appeal for four years, retiring in 2017. 

They discuss, on the basis of their extensive first-hand experience, the nature and conduct of public inquiries, including an assessment of how the future public inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic could and should take place.

The podcast is introduced and hosted by Fionn Pilbrow KC.

This podcast was originally published during our centenary year.