QC

The system for the appointment and selection of Queen’s  Counsel is working well in identifying outstanding advocates, Sir Duncan Nicol CBE has concluded. 

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC has been appointed to the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel, replacing Roy Amlot QC as the barrister member of the independent panel, which assesses applicants for the position of Queen’s Counsel. 

Messrs Barrs of the Bar 

Dear Editor
Whilst I’m sure the incidence of “nominative determinism” amongst members of the legal profession had more to do with the date of the article (“In the name of the law” Counsel April 2009 pp 16-18) than with hard scientific fact, I feel Christina Michalos’ list would be incomplete without mention of the three Messrs Barr of the Bar. 

How can candidates for silk, and their assessors, maximise their chances of success? Roy Amlot QC, outgoing member of the QC Selection Panel, gives an insider’s view.  

The accolade of silk is of great value. As a mark of excellence for all advocates—open to the self-employed Bar, employed Bar and solicitors alike—it enables the public and the professions to identify the leaders in the law and is a quality standard for junior practitioners to aspire to, either in its own right or as a stepping stone to the Bench. Furthermore, it is a mark of considerable importance on the international stage and as such is widely acclaimed all over the world. 

THE third round of appointments as Queen’s Counsel has been announced. 

These appointments are made by an independent Selection Panel, which recommends who should receive this highly sought-after award. All those appointed have demonstrated excellence in advocacy in the higher courts. Baroness Butler-Sloss, Interim Chairman of the QC Selection Panel, said: 

“I have the pleasure of announcing these 104 names. All applicants are assessed against a common competency framework and the same standard of excellence and it is encouraging to see that a wide variety of advocates are among those whose appointment is announced today. There are no quotas, and we treat all applications in the same way, but the range of appointments reflects the openness and fairness of the selection process. On this occasion, the Selection Panel made two significant improvements to the scheme, firstly by inviting applicants to describe the nature of their particular practice in their self-assessment and secondly by looking specifically
at both preparation for, and resolution of, disputes in relation to written and oral advocacy. 

Women scored their highest ever success rate in this year’s silk rounds—55% compared with 40% for men. Some 16 of the 104 successful applicants celebrating their new QC status this year are women. 

SIR Duncan Nichol CBE’s review of the Queen’s Counsel Appointment System was jointly commissioned by the Bar Council and the Law Society in September 2008. The terms of reference of the review included considering whether it would be appropriate to red-affirm the purpose of the award; the forms of excellence that it is intended to recognise; and the range of criteria against which applicants for the award are assessed. 

Following the move away from the previously used “soundings” process three years ago, Sir Duncan considered the operation of the new selection process; the business model supporting the selection process and the personnel who will comprise the selection panel in the future. The new process – which is an open and independent competition, undertaken by a selection panel – is sponsored by the Law Society and the Bar Council with the approval of the Lord Chancellor. On 18 December 2008 the Law Society and the Bar Council
received Sir Duncan’s review. The review will now be considered in detail by the General Management Committee of the Bar Council and the [Legal Affairs and Policy Board] of the Law Society. 

The Chairman of the Bar is responsible for appointing the two barrister members of the QC Selection Panel. Roy Amlot QC was appointed to the Panel in 2005 as a founder member of the new Selection Process. He has par ticipated in three demanding and highly
successful selection Rounds, with the results of the third Round expected to be announced shor tly. Roy will be leaving the Panel at the end of the third Round, and the purpose of this note is to seek nominations for his successor. The second barrister member, Jean Ritchie QC, will continue to serve on the Panel. 

A number of other changes to the Panel are imminent. The Directors of QCA Ltd will soon be interviewing to select a new Chair of the Panel, to succeed Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss GBE. One of the first tasks of the new Chair will be to select by open competition two new lay members for the Panel. At the same time, the President of the Law Society will be selecting a new solicitor member for the Panel. Taken together, there will be four new members of the nine-person Panel required for the next selection Round, which we hope will be open for applications in March 2009. 

Desmond Browne QC welcomes the progress made on VHCCs, but notes the sombre news for publicly funded practitioners 

Sir Duncan Nichol CBE’s review into the system for appointing QCs has been submitted and is now being considered by the Bar Council and Law Society.