Brick Court Chambers is a set of

barristers' chambers In law, a barrister's chambers or barristers' chambers are the rooms used by a barrister or a group of barristers. The singular refers to the use by a sole practitioner whereas the plural refers to a group of barristers who, while acting as s ...

in the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

district of

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

. It specialises in

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

, EU,

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

and

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

. It is considered by legal commentators to be one of the '

Magic Circle A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be mar ...

' of London's most prestigious commercial

. Brick Court Chambers was founded in 1921 by William Jowitt KC, who later became

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

. It rose to prominence in the 1970s, with an increase in shipping and international trade litigation. Jowitt remained in chambers until, in 1940, he became

Solicitor-General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

in the wartime coalition government. After the war, he became

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. After Patrick Devlin was appointed to the High Court in 1948 and subsequently became a

Law Lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

, Colin Pearson KC and David Karmel KC were successively Heads of Chambers.

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

QC became Head of Chambers on Karmel's retirement. When Cooke went to the High Court in 1967, he was succeeded by Philip Owen QC, Leader of the Wales & Chester Circuit, who remained Head of Chambers for 23 years. In 1990, Owen retired and Christopher Clarke QC became Head of Chambers. Senior clerk Ronald Burley, who had been appointed senior clerk by Patrick Devlin in 1948, also retired in 1991. Christopher Clarke QC was succeeded as Head of Chambers by Jonathan Sumption QC and Jonathan Hirst QC in 2005. On Jonathan Sumption's appointment to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 2012, Nicholas Green QC replaced him, and on his appointment to the High Court Bench in 2013, Helen Davies QC became joint Head of Chambers. Jonathan Hirst retired in 2016 and died in 2017. Mark Howard QC succeeded him. Brick Court Chambers currently comprises 110 full-time members, 50 of whom are silks, including well-known silk Sir

Sydney Kentridge Sir Sydney Woolf Kentridge SCOB (born 5 November 1922) is a South African-born lawyer, judge and member of the Bar of England and Wales. He practised law in South Africa and the United Kingdom from the 1940s until his retirement in 2013. In S ...

QC (a former Acting Justice of the

Constitutional Court of South Africa The Constitutional Court of South Africa is the supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction. The Court was first establ ...

, who was awarded the Lifetime Contribution Award at the 2013 Halsbury Legal Awards). The current heads of chambers are Mark Howard QC and Helen Davies QC. The current senior clerks are Paul Dennison and Tony Burgess. At the 2012 Lawyer Awards, 2015 Legal Week British Legal Awards and 2017

Chambers and Partners Chambers and Partners (often noted elsewhere as Chambers & Partners) is a research firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that produces international rankings for the legal industry. Orbach and Chambers Orbach and Chambers Publishing Lim ...

UK Bar Awards it was awarded ‘Chambers of the Year’. Notable members include

Lord Sumption Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption, Lord Sumption, (born 9 December 1948), is a British author, medieval historian, barrister and former senior judge who sat on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2018, and a Non-Permanen ...

, Lord Alexander,

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers (born 21 January 1938) is a British former senior judge. Phillips was the inaugural President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, holding office between October 2009 and Octo ...

, Sir Richard Aikens, Lord Lloyd Jones, Sir Peregrine Simon, Sir Christopher Clarke, Lord Lyell, Sir Paul Walker, Sir Andrew Popplewell, Lord Leggatt and Sir Gerald Barling.

References

External links

Home page

Chambers and Partners Profile

Legal 500 Profile
{{Legal services in the United Kingdom Barristers' chambers in the United Kingdom Law firms based in London