Brick Court has bolstered its clerking team with the hire of Fountain Court Chambers deputy senior clerk, Katie Szewczyk, in a rare lateral move between the rival commercial sets.
Szewczyk, who has more than 25 years of clerking experience, will join Brick Court in the role of deputy senior clerk alongside Jo Francis.
She replaces Luke Carvalho, who moved across to 3 Verulam Buildings as senior practice manager in July. Szewczyk will join Francis in supporting joint senior clerks Paul Dennison and Tony Burgess in overseeing the efficient running of chambers, assisting members with the development of their practices and strengthening relationships with clients.
Dennison and Burgess said: “Katie is the perfect addition to an already high-achieving and well-thought-of clerking team. Her expertise will be invaluable as we continue to grow and provide the highest level of service to our clients.”
This will be Szewczyk’s second spell at Brick Court, where she spent six years as a clerk before joining Fountain Court as a team leader in 2012.
Moves between the two elite commercial sets at any level are rare. Notably, in 2020, James McClelland joined Brick Court from Fountain Court, going on to take silk in the 2020 competition.
Fountain Court’s head of chambers, Richard Handyside KC, said: “After long and valued service, we were very sad to lose Katie Szewczyk but wish her every success for her return to Brick Court.”
Szewczyk made her mark at Fountain Court when she was promoted to co-deputy senior clerk in 2018, along with longtime clerk Sian Huckett, at a time when the appointment of two women deputy senior clerks was unique.
The duo supported director of clerking Alex Taylor during a successful period for the set, teaming up for much of their joint tenure with director of business development Helen Griffiths before she joined law firm Fladgate in 2024.
Together they helped the set secure greater recognition for the its work, including in non-traditional areas like financial crime and related disciplines, as well as its traditional strengths of banking, insurance, commercial litigation, aviation, and, increasingly, offshore and international arbitration.
Consistent success in silk selection rounds saw the appointment of leading female advocates, including Rosalind Phelps KC and Tamara Oppenheimer KC while a series of senior lateral joiners were successfully integrated into the set, such as Richard Lissack KC, Ben Lynch KC, Leigh-Ann Mulcahy, Anneliese Day KC and, most recently, John Merzhad KC, who joined from Littleton Chambers in 2023.
In April, Fountain Court received the Gender Equality Initiative of the Year award at the Women and Diversity in Law Awards for its Female Advocates Breakfast, a quarterly event founded in 2018 by Mulcahy, with Szewczyk playing a supportive role.
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