Using remote electronic voting, the 2023 MTYBA Committee was elected by the membership on 23 January 2023.
President - Phyllida Spackman
Phyllida is serving her third year on the MTYBA Committee having been in the Communications Officer role for the past two years. She currently works as a County Court Advocate for LPC Law having studied the GDL and BPTC at Cardiff University before moving to London to study a master’s in Public Law at UCL. Phyllida has a particular interest in property law having worked last year as a Research Assistant at the Law Commission in the Property, Family and Trusts team. As a Middle Temple scholar, Phyllida believes that it is important to give back to the Inn and hopes to serve this year as President doing exactly that. She is keen to put on some great social events for members to take advantage of us all being able to meet in person at the Inn again after the lockdown years.
Vice President - Emma Hughes
Emma is thrilled to be serving as MTYBA’s Vice-President for 2022, after previously serving as MTYBA's Diversity and Inclusion-Officer in 2020 & 2021 and MTSA President in 2018. As Head of Mentoring for Bridging The Bar, Emma has experience in leadership roles and mentoring.
Emma is a current pupil at 4 Brick Court Chambers in 2022 specialising in family law. Emma also sits on the Hall Committee and the Bar Council Race Working Group (RWG), alongside incredibly talented members of the profession who are truly dedicated to enhancing diversity and equality at the Bar.
As Vice-President, Emma will support her fellow committee members and continue to collaborate with these organisations and ensure young members of the Bar's voices are heard.
Treasurer & Secretary - Stefan Bisson
Stefan is serving his second year on the MTYBA Committee as Treasurer and Secretary. He is a member of Great James Street Chambers practising primarily in crime and extradition. Prior to becoming a practising barrister, Stefan worked in US city law firms as a paralegal and as a panel secretary for the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
During the Bar Course, Stefan was elected as the Middle Temple Students Association Communications Officer and is excited to once again be representing fellow members of Middle Temple.
Social Secretary - Jyotsna Swami
Jyotsna is working as a civil litigation paralegal at LPC Law. Before joining LPC Law, she worked as a case worker at Innocence Project at Cardiff Law School. Additionally, she volunteered her time at the Personal Support Unit, where she helped litigants in person navigate the legal system. She completed her Masters in International Commercial Law in 2020 and was called to the Bar in 2021.
She is an avid painter and enjoys traveling in her free time. With her strong interpersonal skills and experience in social initiatives, she is excited to serve as MTYBA's social secretary.
Diversity & Inclusion Officer - Dina Sherif
Dina is a family paralegal at a leading London law firm; in the Public Family Law department, assisting in cases featuring parental alienation, domestic abuse, non- accidental injury, sexual abuse, and neglect. As well as assisting supervising solicitors, Dina manages her own caseload. She is regularly instructed in applications under the Family Law Act 1996 on behalf of applicants.
Previously Dina worked as Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) and immigration paralegal. As an IDVA, she assisted vulnerable victims of domestic violence. Dina has written articles and delivered seminars to raise awareness about the topic. Dina has a particular passion for pro-bono work, diversity, and access to justice, having volunteered at
FRU, Temple Legal Centre, BPP Legal Advice Centre (BLAC), and Toynbee Hall.
Pupillage Officer - Kiki Hausdorff
Kiki works as Parliamentary Counsel at the City of London Corporation, where she advises on legal and parliamentary matters and drafts private legislation and amendments to Public Bills. She is instructed by the Corporation’s solicitors in small claims and housing matters in the County Court and in criminal and regulatory matters in the Magistrates’ Court.
Tenancy Officer - Jaysen Sharpe
Jaysen was called in 2017 and is a commercial barrister at Gatehouse Chambers. He is the longest standing MTYBA Committee member having previously served as pupillage and then tenancy officer.
Outside of work, Jaysen is a qualified pilot and enjoys flying in his spare time.
Northern Circuit Chair - Natasha Khalique
Natasha is a family law barrister at Unit Chambers and is serving her second year on the MTYBA Committee. Previously, Natasha had been a County Court Advocate with LPC Law for 2 years and is now a veteran of over 845 hearings across the Northern Circuit. Prior to that, she was a fee earning Paralegal at Stewarts LLP in London. Natasha is passionate about family law especially child related matters. She enjoys appearing before District Judges representing claimants and defendants in hearings as well as liaising with solicitors.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Natasha studied biomedical science at both Queen Mary’s and UCL, passing her Bar Professional Training Course and Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP School of Law in 2016. She is a sits on the Education and Academic committee member for Middle Temple as the MTYBA representative.