smell became so vile that the entire building had to be evacuated until remedial action could be taken. In 1990 chambers took on 17/19 Devereux Court. The premises had previously been leased by a firm of solicitors, Lawford & Co, that specialised in labour law, and the offices initially were something of a rabbit warren. After refurbishment, this provided space for a large clerks’ room on the ground floor, four floors of rooms, and space for a large conference room on the top floor, where chambers meetings and parties could be held. Sydney Kentridge had taken on Bob Alexander’s old room in 11 Essex Street. When the main part of chambers was located in Devereux Court, it was difficult to refer to chambers as 1 Brick Court, albeit rooms were retained there. However, the Brick Court name was a symbol of the chambers inheritance, so chambers became Brick Court Chambers. 1990 saw the British & Commonwealth trial. B&C was a conglomerate run by John Gunn which had been very successful in the heady days of the late 1980s. Their fall was dramatic, partly because of a problem in the purchase of a dodgy outfit called Atlantic Computers. In 1987 B&C wanted to purchase Mercantile House on the basis that it would sell off the money
Left to right: Nicholas Green, Hilary Heilbron QC, Richard Aikens QC, a pupil in chambers, Helen Davies and Richard Slade in a conference room in Devereux Court, c.1994
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