A career as a commercial barrister: a great choice for women

08/12/21

On Monday 6 December over 80 students attended an event in Middle Temple Hall hosted by Brick Court Chambers and three other leading commercial sets (Essex Court, Fountain Court and One Essex Court) under the headline “A career as a commercial barrister: a great choice for women”.

The event was chaired by The Rt Hon Lady Justice Carr, who spoke compellingly about the opportunities for women at the Commercial Bar and in the judiciary. She introduced a panel of four speakers, including Zahra Al-Rikabi from Brick Court Chambers, who offered different perspectives on their working lives and career progression.  A number of members of chambers also attended to meet students and answer questions about pupillage, tenancy and their work.

The event was widely attended by students from across the country. It is the third in a programme of events co-ordinated by the four sets of chambers, who have joined together for the first time in furtherance of an initiative to promote the Commercial Bar as a great choice for women and to tackle misconceptions about working life as a commercial barrister. The Times has previously reported on this initiative here and you can read about the previous events here, at which Laura Newton and Helen Davies QC spoke on behalf of Brick Court.

At Brick Court we are proud of how many members of chambers are women, at all levels of seniority. We were one of the first leading commercial sets to have a woman, Helen Davies QC, as joint head of chambers. A former member of chambers, now Mrs Justice Bacon, became a High Court Judge in 2020; the youngest woman ever to have done so.

Brick Court welcomes applications for pupillage from all applicants regardless of background. In accordance with our commitment to treat everyone equally and fairly, we assess candidates for pupillage and tenancy on merit alone. However, we recognise that women, members of ethnic monitories, LGBT+ people and disabled people are disproportionately under-represented in our areas of practice, including within chambers. We particularly encourage applications from these groups. Details of the applications process can be found on our Pupillage and Tenancy pages.

Information about our work on equality and diversity is here, or is available from our Equality and Diversity Officer, Sarah Lee QC.