A trio of City heavyweights has been appointed among 107 new Queen’s Counsel (QC) announced today (11 January), an increase on last year’s round of 93.
Of the nine solicitor advocates who applied, there were three successful candidates, a drop on 2014/15 when five solicitor advocates were appointed. This year’s appointments include Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan arbitration head Stephen Jagusch (pictured), Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher international arbitration group co-chair Penny Madden, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London arbitration head Nigel Rawding.
However the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel has said the number of females applicants taking silk remains ‘stubbornly low’.
A report on the 2015/16 competition showed there were 25 successful women applicants of the 48 who applied – the same amount as last year when 25 out of 43 female applicants were successful.
Nine applicants aged over 50 were appointed, the same as last year and the youngest successful applicant is 34 years old and the oldest is 57. One of the four applicants who declared a disability was successful. In 2014-15 three applicants who declared a disability were appointed. There were nine successful applicants who declared an ethnic origin other than white out of the 32 who applied, a dip on last year in which 10 applicants out of 24 were appointed.
Figures recorded since 1995 show that while applications have fallen, the success rate of those applying has vastly improved – two decades ago only 14% of all allocations for QC were successful while today the figure stands at 45%.
Justice Secretary Michael Gove will preside over an appointment ceremony at Westminster Hall on 22 February.
Chairman of the selection panel Helen Pitcher said: ‘We remain concerned that the number of female applicants remains stubbornly low, but I am pleased that of those women who did apply, 52% were successful. While I was pleased to note a rise in BAME applicants to 14% of applications it is disappointing that the success rate for BAME applicants was lower than that for applicants as a whole.’
Other high profile names to take silk include One Crown Office Row human rights barrister Marina Wheeler, the wife of Boris Johnson, public law barrister, Shaheed Fatima from Blackstone Chambers, 39 Essex Chambers’ Justine Thornton, and Wilberforce Chambers’ Tim Penny, who recently moved to the set from the now-dissolved 11 Stone Buildings.
Roche general counsel and company secretary, Funke Abimbola, who recently published a paper on social mobility and diversity in the profession with Byfield Consultancy, tells Legal Business: ‘The talent pool of those awarded silk is generally made up of the elitist of the profession. The process of application is biased towards to those with great networks and weighty referees – and not everyone will have the time to invest in the application process. Also, the blending of the roles of solicitor-advocate and the barrister hasn’t gone far enough – there are few differences between both roles now.’
‘As for the female diversity stats, this is just evident of stats at the senior end of the Bar generally. The Bar is, however, trying a lot to improve but such improvement in the next few years will continue to be marginal.’
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
The full list of Queen’s Counsel, by order of seniority:
Simon Paul Steven Cairnes
Jayne Margaret Adams
Kim Franklin
Kennedy Vernon Talbot
Michael Charles Anthony Bedford
Terence Edward Bergin
Peter Anthony Makepeace
Marina Wheeler
James Michael Scott Ramsden
Paul David Ozin
Steven Suppiah Perian
Timothy Charles Penny
Andrew John Moran
Henry James Witcomb
Jonathan Charles Ashley-Norman
Derek Anthony O’Sullivan
Ian James Clarke
Ian Francis Henderson
Sarah Joanne Lee
Cathryn Margaret McGahey
Michael Joseph Ivers
Kerry Louise Bretherton
Michael Andrew Horne
Andrew David Norton
Cyrus Rais Larizadeh
Aidan Patrick Casey
Douglas James Campbell
Richard Julian Henshaw Edwards
Nicholas John Grundy
Mark Eliot George Harper
Emma Rebecca Deacon
Adam John Weitzman
Katharine Susannah Gollop
Adam Sebastian Feest
Justine Thornton
Caroline Mary Shea
Siobhan Grey
Richard William Scott Ground
John Foster Harrison
Alan Grant Johns
Louise June Sweet
Gemma White
Nicholas James Johnson
Catrin Miranda Evans
Simon James Fox
Daniel Nicholas Tatton-Brown
Richard Duncan Atkinson
Philip Evans
Simon Charles Kilvington
William Laurence Latimer-Sayer
Daniel Lightman
William Owain Thomas
Aidan Vine
Thomas Charles Weekes
Jeremy Rupert Daniel Hyam
Oliver Edwin James Glasgow
Alexander Frederick Hickey
James Herbert Maxwell-Scott
Thomas Moody-Stuart
Tobias Augustine William Riley-Smith
Ben Matthew Valentin
Stephen Richard Jagusch
Giles Francis Sacheveral Cockings
Clodagh Maria Bradley
Richard Colin Wilson
Benjamin Roger Collins
James Ewins
James Abrahams
Bridget Maura Dolan
Thomas Richard Hinchliffe
Simon Spiro Malynicz
Kama Louise Melly
Peter Skelton
Clare Adele Sibson
David Ian Head
Stephen Moses
Harry David Glyn Steinberg
Julian Hector Marriott Kenny
Sudhanshu Swaroop
Richard Thomas Kimblin
Hannah Markham
Adam Charles Prest
Daniel Bayfield
Salim Abdool Hamid Moollan
Anya, Lucie, Victoria Proops
Rosalind Jayne Phelps
Daniel Benjamin Squires
David Niaz Mohyuddin
Jonathan Michael Cohen
Brian Anthony Kennelly
Paul Stuart Mitchell
John Dempster McKendrick
Guy Luke Vassall-Adams
Maya Elizabeth Jane Lester
David Stewart Mumford
Alexander Henry Spencer Booth
Lisa Virginia Busch
Riaz Hussain
Gerald Carlo Facenna
Shaheed Fatima
Laurent Charles Sykes
Jonathan Michael Davey
Jonathan Adam Hilliard
Andrew Smith
Nigel Kenneth Rawding
Thomas Plewman
Penelope Jane Madden
