We are delighted to announce that our Joint Head of Chambers, Grace Brown, is the winner of ‘DE&I: Champion of the Year (Bar)’ at the Legal 500 UK ESG Awards 2025.
Our warmest congratulations to Grace for this outstanding achievement.
Grace Brown has been awarded ‘DE&I: Champion of the Year (Bar)’. This category acknowledges a truly standout individual for their contribution to diversity and inclusion at the Bar.
Grace is committed to the advancement of Black and ethnic-minoritised lawyers and those entering the profession through doing what is right, utilising her remarkable legal skill to advocate for marginalised people. Grace is regularly instructed in Windrush cases and works tirelessly for this cause, frequently advising solicitors, community groups and organisations in relation to this, often pro bono. Grace has challenged inequities and failings of the Windrush and Windrush Compensation Schemes in the courts and has spoken at countless Windrush related events, including the ‘Voices of Windrush Festival’ and ‘Law & the Windrush Scandal’.
Grace is appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s preferred Panel of Counsel, and is a Trustee of Haringey Migrants Support Centre and Voice of Domestic Workers. Grace is a regular speaker at Black History Month events, a mentor on the Inner Temple Mentoring Scheme and a Pegasus Scholar Host. Before becoming one of our Joint Heads of Chambers, Grace was the former Equality & Diversity Officer and chaired our Race Task Force for many years. She is a former member of the Bar Council’s Equality & Diversity Officers Network. Grace always ensures diversity and inclusion sit high on the agenda of the Management Committee She is a committed and valued mentor for our ‘Access to the Bar for All’ Scheme.
Grace was also shortlisted for ‘Ethnicity: Champion of the Year’, which acknowledges exceptional individual contributions to boosting representation of lawyers from ethnic-minoritised communities within the legal profession.
Garden Court Chambers was shortlisted for ‘Ethnicity: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent’ and ‘Social Mobility: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent’. The ‘Ethnicity: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent’ award celebrates initiatives intended to attract lawyers from ethnic0minoritised communities at a graduate/junior level and to retain them. The ‘Social Mobility: Best Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent’ award celebrates initiatives intended to boost social mobility within the organisation/profession by attracting and retaining talented lawyers from less privileged backgrounds. This was in recognition of our pioneering and award-winning mentoring scheme, ‘Access to the Bar for All’.
The School Inclusion Project (SIP) was shortlisted for Pro bono Initiative of the Year (UK). SIP brings together lawyers, advisers and campaigners with expertise in the field of school exclusions and related issues, to address systemic discrimination in the education system. SIP is a forum coordinated by the Garden Court Chambers Education Law Team, Communities Empowerment Network, Coram Children’s Legal Centre and Law Centres Network. Most of SIP’s communications are by email (via a GoogleGroup), with meetings throughout the year for SIP members to discuss topical issues. SIP is open to individuals and organisations that support children who have been excluded and/or discriminated against in school.
The Legal 500 UK ESG Awards 2025 was hosted by journalist and broadcaster Maryam Moshiri on 25 March 2025. A full list of winners can be found here.
The awards were covered in Legal Business, available to read here.
