*/
The highest number of lawyers from ethnic minority backgrounds were among the 119 newly appointed Queen’s Counsel.
Of the 33 who applied, 18 were appointed – two more than the 16 of the 37 who applied in the previous year.
The success rate for women also improved with 32 appointed from 50 who applied, compared to 31 successful applicants out of 56 last year.
Five solicitor advocates of the ten who applied, were appointed.
Seven honorary QC awards went to: academic and sale of goods expert Professor Michael Bridge; director of the Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, Professor Louise Gullifer; barrister and former academic who served as a Law Commissioner, Dr Charles Harpum; Janet Legrand, former Senior Partner and interim global co-chair of law firm DLA Piper; international and family law academic, Professor Nigel Lowe; Nicola Padfield, Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice at the University of Cambridge; and Maurice Sunkin, Professor of Public Law and Socio Legal Studies at the University of Essex.
The new QCs will formally become Silks at the ceremony on 26 February.
Applications for the 2018 round are expected to open in February.
The highest number of lawyers from ethnic minority backgrounds were among the 119 newly appointed Queen’s Counsel.
Of the 33 who applied, 18 were appointed – two more than the 16 of the 37 who applied in the previous year.
The success rate for women also improved with 32 appointed from 50 who applied, compared to 31 successful applicants out of 56 last year.
Five solicitor advocates of the ten who applied, were appointed.
Seven honorary QC awards went to: academic and sale of goods expert Professor Michael Bridge; director of the Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, Professor Louise Gullifer; barrister and former academic who served as a Law Commissioner, Dr Charles Harpum; Janet Legrand, former Senior Partner and interim global co-chair of law firm DLA Piper; international and family law academic, Professor Nigel Lowe; Nicola Padfield, Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice at the University of Cambridge; and Maurice Sunkin, Professor of Public Law and Socio Legal Studies at the University of Essex.
The new QCs will formally become Silks at the ceremony on 26 February.
Applications for the 2018 round are expected to open in February.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
By Kem Kemal, CEO, Henry Dannell
By BSK Financial Planning
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs
Susie Griffin on the admin that keeps barristers from billable work
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Kick off your career at the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair this October – it’s one of the most valuable opportunities for aspiring barristers, says Amelia Clegg
Join us on Saturday 21 November 2026 at Leeds Beckett University and see for yourself why the North continues to be an exceptional place to build a career at the Bar
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control