The new bar chair beginning her year-long term from today will lead the first all-female leadership team at the Bar Council.
Kirsty Brimelow KC succeeds Barbara Mills KC as chair of the representative body where she will lead Heidi Stonecliff KC, of the CPS, as vice chair; Lucinda Orr, of Enyo Law, as treasurer; and Amelia Clegg, of BCL Solicitors, as chair of the young barristers’ committee.
Brimelow, who practises in criminal, international and public law from Doughty Street Chambers, was called to the bar in 1991 and became Queen’s (now King’s) counsel in 2011. She was appointed a deputy High Court judge in the King’s Bench Division in 2021. The following year, she was appointed a recorder.
From 2021 to 2023, as vice chair and then chair of the Criminal Bar Association during the criminal bar protest action, Brimelow was involved with negotiations with the government that led to an increase in legal aid fees.
In her inaugural address to be given on Monday 12 January, Brimelow will set out her priorities as bar chair. She is expected to continue to lead the council’s opposition to government proposals to curtail jury trials and ‘advocate for greater investment across all jurisdictions’ and ‘shine a spotlight on children in the justice system’.
Brimelow said: ‘It is both an honour and a responsibility to serve my profession as chair of the bar. I will bring my cross-jurisdictional expertise to overcome challenges and embrace opportunities for barristers and people delivering and accessing justice. I also will lead with courage and kindness.’
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