We’re delighted to have hosted this special in-conversation event with Chair of the Bar, Kirsty Brimelow KC and retiring judge, Dame Victoria Sharp. 

Watch the recording below.

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When
15 July 2026, 17:30 - 19:45
Where
In-person, London

About the event  

As one of the most influential judicial figures of her generation, Dame Victoria Sharp has had an impressive career at the Bar and on the Bench. Dame Victoria has helped shape modern justice and breakdown barriers for women in the legal profession.  

In this discussion, she looks back on the defining moments of her career, how the courts have changed over the years, and the future challenges facing the justice system.  

Hear firsthand from Dame Victoria Sharp as she reflects on a remarkable career and the future of the profession. 

Watch the recording

Ahead of her retirement, this event explored issues affecting the profession today, including: 

  • Advice for barristers from a career at the Bar and the judiciary
  • Breaking the glass ceiling and the challenges of being a woman in law
  • Wellbeing and balancing a legal career with having a family
  • Accessibility of the Chancery division and the reasons for it to change to the business and property division 
  • Civil commercial law and its importance internationally 
  • Open justice and the televising of court proceedings 
  • The future role of AI in the court process 
video image

In conversation with Dame Victoria Sharp.

 

Speakers

Kirsty Brimelow KC

Chair of the Bar Council 2026

Kirsty Brimelow KC is Chair of the Bar 2026. Kirsty practises in criminal, international and public law from Doughty Street Chambers, where she is on the management board as head of the criminal law team. Kirsty was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2011. Kirsty has the distinction of having led in both Civil and Criminal Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court, the Privy Council, and the European Court of Human Rights. 

In 2021, Kirsty was appointed a deputy High Court judge in the King’s Bench Division and in 2022 appointed a Recorder. She is an accredited mediator and acts in conflict resolution. Kirsty worked in the Colombia peace process and negotiated an historic apology from the former President of Colombia to a community of farmers, for a massacre. 

Kirsty was a member of the Bar Council Public Affairs Committee and a Bar Council Young Spokesperson from 1998 to 2008. Kirsty was the first female Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee (2012 to 2018) and served as the Vice Chair and then Chair of the Criminal Bar Association (2021 to 2023). In 2022, she led negotiations with the government of an historic increase in fees for criminal barristers. 

Kirsty is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and was elected to the management board (2020 to 2023). She is an experienced high-level trainer, facilitator, and conference speaker in international human rights around the world, holding consultancies to the United Nations and OSCE (the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). She has driven law change including in sexual offences law in Denmark and FGM protection orders in England and Wales.  

In 2018 Kirsty won both the First 100 Years ‘Inspirational Woman in Law Barrister of the Year’ Award and Advocate’s pro bono ‘International Barrister of the Year’ Award. She twice has featured as The Times Lawyer of the week. Kirsty is a trustee and director of the leading global environmental charity WWF UK, visiting professor at Goldsmiths Faculty of Law (2019 to 2025), and founding member of the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk. Kirsty was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts for her service to human rights. 

Dame Victoria Sharp

 

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