Champagne was on ice by lunchtime. This year’s round of successful applicants for Queen’s Counsel had by yesterday morning received their letters or an e-mail confirmation.
In all, the Queen approved 129 QCs — see the full list below — who now join the ranks of the profession’s elite.
Far fewer lawyers apply for silk these days, not least because now that the system is independent and self-financing, there is a hefty fee to pay. Last year’s applicants had to find £2,702.50, including VAT, and another £3,500 if successful.
In all 275 applied, so just under half succeeded. Despite efforts to improve diversity, 226 were men (of whom 108 were successful) and 46 were women (of whom 20 were successful).
There were 35 ethnic minority applicants (17 were successful); 262 barristers (128) and three employed advocates (none were succcessful).
The biggest disappointment remains numbers of solicitor QCs: ten applied and only one was appointed.
Professor Dame Joan Higgins, who chairs the selection panel, said that the quality was “higher than ever” and the standard for appointment remained high.
She was encouraged, she said, that the proportion of ethnic minority candidates matched that for white applicants and that the number of successful women applicants “remains high”.
But she added: “It is disappointing that we have not been able to recommend more solicitors or employed advocates, after the higher number of appointments last year.”
All applicants, she said, were “assessed against a common competency framework and a common standard of excellence”. She added: “There are no quotas and we treat all applications in the same way. I hope there will be further appointments in future years.”
Despite the poor field from the solicitors’ branch, there will be some comfort in legal circles that the proportions being appointed have evened out so that it is not apparently easier for women than men.
Last year only 87 of 215 men were successful compared with 16 of 29 women. This year 47.8 per cent of men and 43.5 per cent of women were successful.
Looking back, in 1994 as many as 539 hopefuls put their hats in the ring and only 77 were lucky. Now the chances are better. That figure remained constant until 2002 where it shot up to 113 and since, has varied between 113 and 129.
Despite Professor Higgins’ comments, the proportions of women applying must be a cause of concern. Only 16.7 per cent of applications came from women and 3.6 per cent from solicitors. An increase in the latter, where women are better represented, could change that.
Or it may be that advocacy, which is the mainstay of a QC’s work, is not compatible with family commitments and the need for women, more so than men, to juggle home and careers.
QUEEN’S COUNSEL 2010
(appointees in alphabetical order)
Mr David Jeffrey Aaronberg
Mr Piers Dyke Acland
Mr Mark Roger Anderson
Mr Mohammed Jalil Akhter Asif
Mr Nicholas Michael Bacon
Mr Alexander Bailin
Mr Rupert Patrick Craig Baldry
Mr Charles Jefferis Woodburn Benson
Miss Jane Bewsey
Miss Zia Kurban Bhaloo
Miss Claire Blanchard
Ms Veronique Eira Buehrlen
Mr John Malcolm Burton
Mr David John Cavender
Mr Patrick Chamberlayne
Mr Jeffrey Paul Chapman
Mr Julian Mark Carmichael Christopher
Mr Michael Jeremy Patrick Coburn
Mrs Michelle Diane Mary Colborne
Mr John Gordon Cooper
Mr Nigel Stuart Cooper
Miss Jane Elizabeth Cross
Mr Derrick Ralph Dale
Miss Katharine Louise D’Arcy
Mr Arthur Alan Dashwood
Mr Michael James Davie
Ms Anuja Ravindra Dhir
Mr Paul Simon Downes
Mr Michael Simon Edenborough
Mr Philip Douglas Edwards
Miss Naomi Lisa Ellenbogen
Mr John Cowie Elvidge
Miss Susan Louise Carr Evans
Mr Francis Thomas Feehan
Mr Francis George Herbert Dillon FitzGibbon
Mr William David Wingate Flenley
Mr Steven Charles Ford
Mr Gerard Forlin
Ms Isabella Louise Forshall
Mr Rudi Fletcher Fortson
Mr Kerim Selchuk Fuad
Mr Joseph John Bela Leslie Giret
Mr Paul Richard Greaney
Mr Andrew James Dominic Green
Miss Sally Harrison
Mr Neil Ashley Hawes
Ms Sioban Mary Healy
Mr Kevin John Hegarty
Mr Mark Adrian Heywood
Mr David Seymour Hislop
Miss Katharine Jane Holland
Mr David John Hooper
Mr George Hugh-Jones
Mr Syed Raza Husain
Mr Paul Richard Hynes
Mr Thomas Victor William Kark
Mr Lee Nadesalingam Karu
Mr Christopher Laurence Paul Kennedy
Ms Judith Khan
Mr Charles Dominic Kimmins
Mr Cyril Kinsky
Mr Jonathan Kirk
Mr Stephen Knafler
Mr Steven Laszlo Kovats
Mr Sean Larkin
Mr Nicholas Peter Le Poidevin
Mr Thomas Alexander Crispin Leech
Mr Robert Stuart Levy
Mr John Letablere Litton
Mr Andrew James Lloyd-Eley
Mr Andrew William Jardine Lockhart
Mr Amjad Raza Malik
Mr David Buchanan Mason
Mr Harold Nsamba Matovu
Mr Richard Andrew Matthews
Mr William Thomas McCormick
Mr Angus Maxwell Thomas McCullough
Mr Bryan Nicholas McGuire
Mr Manus Anthony McMullan
Mr Alexander Hugh Milne
Dr Timothy John Moloney
Mr Neil Robert Moody
Ms Helen Mountfield
Mr Gordon Lawrence Nardell
Mr Cairns Louis David Nelson
Mr Andrew Bennett Newcombe
Mr Peter Robert Oldham
Mr Brian Patrick O’Neill
Mr Daniel Richard Oudkerk
Mr Benedict Joseph Patten
Mr Robert Roger Peel
Mr Simon Benjamin Phillips
Mr Julian Mark Picton
Mr Timothy Sheridan Pitt-Payne
Mr Nigel John Power
Mr Piers Charles William Pressdee
Mr Thomas Price
Mr Philip Carslake Rainey
Mr Paul Stuart Malcolm Reed
Mr Jonathan David Rees
Mr Andrew James Rigney
Mr Jonathan Huw Sinclair Russen
Mr Matthew Conrad Ryder
Mr James Timothy Norman Scobie
Mr Akhil Shah
Mr Andrew John Short
Mr Richard Penkivil Slade
Mr Marcus Alexander Smith
Mr David Hugh Southey
Mr Paul Mallalieu Stanley
Mr Daniel Malachi Stilitz
Mr Christopher Paul Stoner
Miss Jemima Lucy Stratford
Mr Jonathan Mark Swift
Mr David Travers
Mr George Marcus Arthur Trinick
Mr Paul Geoffrey Tucker
Mr Ian Stephen Unsworth
Mr Adam Skanda Vaitilingam
Mr Ian Wade
Mr Robert Thomas Macdonald Weir
Mr Martin Trevor Westgate
Ms Philippa Jane Edwards Whipple
Mr Jonathan Whitfield
Miss Anne Lynne Whyte
Miss Joanne Wicks
Mr Sean David Henry Wilken
Mr Rhodri John Williams
Mr Ian Wise
