My work
Alex is an approachable and empathetic barrister, who is ranked as a Leading Junior by Legal 500 for Inquests/Inquiries. His skills in this area are reflected by his appointment as counsel to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, his selection for the Attorney General's B Panel of Counsel and his involvement in the Covid-19 Inquiry. Alex also has experience of representing families in high-profile inquests as well as advising on Article 2 ECHR claims arising from inquests.
Prior to Alex’s work as Junior Counsel to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, about half of Alex’s trial work was accounted for by complex jury inquests. Alex is often instructed at an early stage and works closely with the client throughout the preparation process, including in respect of any organisational learning relevant to pre-empting Regulation 28 reports. His clients include police forces, prisoners/government departments, local authorities, Transport for London, private firms and NHS bodies. Alex is accustomed to dealing with inquests attracting significant media coverage.
Featured Inquests cases:
--representing the Family in the inquest into the death of Ellie Clarke, the daughter of the Port Vale football club's manager Darrell Clarke
--Two complex inquests involving the impact of unconventional road design on pedestrian deaths, involving detailed analysis of the design process spanning several decades;
--Death in custody inquests involving New Psychoactive Substances, bullying, mental health issues, drug interaction etc;
--Acting on behalf of a police force (and one of its police officers) in a 7-day Article 2 jury inquest, involving seven Interested Parties;
--Representing a police force in an inquest following a high-speed police pursuit death;
--Inquest relating to the murder of a young man, where several police forces are alleged to have responded inadequately to warnings from his family;
--Inquest relating to the death of a young woman following a drugs overdose, involving issues of multi-agency cooperation and where approximately ten public authorities were interested parties;
--Acting for local authorities in inquests concerning care assessments, placement in care homes, deaths related to hoarding while living in the community etc.
About me
I was Called as a barrister in 2010 and have been practising throughout at 5 Essex Chambers, a leading civil set, for some 13 years. I have been appointed to the Attorney General's B Panel of Counsel and am a Leading Junior in multiple areas, according to the Legal 500 Directory.
What my clients say
Leading Junior for Inquests/Inquiries in Legal 500 Directory (2023).
“Mr Ustych is not solely a Barrister with a wide spectrum of legal knowledge, procedural insight and strategic case management approach to handling claims. He is fundamentally a unique, down to earth people person, who takes into consideration a Client’s personal circumstances, disabilities, emotional stresses and requirements to ensure, not only that he and his services provide the important details required at all stages of a claim and/or hearing, but also ensures his Client is not placed in any distress prior, during or after the claim ends.
Throughout our time communicating with Mr Ustych, we felt he genuinely cared about us as people as much as succeeding in the hearing and he did not want to place us in any jeopardy more than anything else. We genuinely thank Mr Ustych for all his assistance, effort and support plus highly recommend him to anyone seeking a Barrister with high legal intelligence, professional approach and primarily, an understanding towards his client’s needs.”
Professional & academic
- 2010 – Called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn – Awarded the Inn’s Bedingfield Scholarship as well as an LLM scholarship 2010 – Bar Vocational Course at BPP (London)
- 2010 – (BPP) LLM (distinction) – dual focus on disability discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 – and Coroners’ Inquests involving police/public authorities
- 2008 – Durham University, LLB (First)