Four new tenants for Brick Court

23/07/24

Brick Court Chambers is delighted to announce that four new tenants will join chambers after successfully completing pupillage - bringing the total number of tenants up to 115.  The new members of chambers are:

• Joanna Connolly
• Robert Steele
• Harry Balfour-Lynn
• Firdaus Mohandas

Joanna Connolly holds an LLM (First Class) from the University of Cambridge where she was awarded the WM Tapp Studentship in Law. At the University of Sydney, she received First Class Honours in Law and the University Medal and First Class Honours in History (ranking first in her year). Prior to commencing pupillage, Joanna taught Public Law at the London School of Economics and was a researcher in commercial and common law at the Law Commission of England and Wales. Before this, Joanna worked for a number of years in human rights litigation focussing on online speech and digital privacy. She had conduct of cases before a range of international courts and tribunals, was subsequently made a Visiting Fellow assisting the UN Special Rapporteur on counter terrorism and human rights. During pupillage, Joanna worked on a range of commercial, public, and competition law matters, with particular focus on cross-border commercial disputes and international sanctions. Joanna joins chambers in July 2024. 

Robert Steele commenced pupillage following a year as the Judicial Assistant to Lord Sales and Lord Richards in the United Kingdom Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Prior to that, Robert practised as a solicitor in the Litigation and Investigations team of a Magic Circle law firm, where he was involved in a range of commercial and competition disputes. He trained at the same firm, in London and Dubai. Whilst a solicitor, Robert was seconded to the High Court as the Judicial Assistant to Mr Justice Chamberlain (now Judge in Charge of the Administrative Court), where he assisted in a broad range of public law/human rights cases. Robert read law at the University of Oxford (Jesus College), where he graduated with a BA in Jurisprudence (First Class) and the BCL (Distinction). He won a number of prizes during his studies, including the Law Faculty Prize in European Human Rights Law, for coming top of the year in that subject. Robert joins chambers in September 2024.

Harry Balfour-Lynn commenced pupillage having previously worked as the judicial assistant to Lord Hamblen in the UK Supreme Court and to Mr Justice Calver in the Commercial and Administrative Courts. Prior to that he trained as a solicitor at Hogan Lovells, where he worked on a range of commercial and public law litigation. As a solicitor, he was shortlisted for Junior Lawyer of the Year in the Law Society Excellence Awards 2021. Harry completed a BA in History at University College London (First Class Honours, Dean’s List), the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School (Distinctions), and a Masters in International Legal Studies at New York University School of Law (Dean’s Graduate Award). During pupillage, Harry assisted on a range of high-profile commercial, public law and competition cases. Harry joins chambers in September 2024.

Firdaus Mohandas graduated with a first-class degree in Law from St. John’s College, Oxford, where he finished second in the year and received the Gibbs Prize for the best performance across the private law modules. He then obtained a distinction on the BCL, having been awarded the Daniel Slifkin Scholarship for his studies. He was also a recipient of Lincoln’s Inn’s Lord Mansfield Scholarship while completing the Bar Course at the Inns of Court College of Advocacy. During pupillage, Firdaus worked on a range of disputes spanning chambers’ areas of specialism. These included high value civil fraud claims, collective proceedings in the financial services and technology sectors, and sports law arbitrations. Firdaus joins chambers in September 2024.