The Ministry of Justice and King’s Counsel Appointments (KCA) have today announced the appointment of 96 new King’s Counsel (KCs, also known as silks).
Chair of the Bar Kirsty Brimelow KC said:
“I send my warmest congratulations to all those receiving news of their successful silk application today. It is truly a mark of excellence in advocacy and KCs are recognised internationally as experts and leaders in their field.
“I also offer commiserations to those who were unsuccessful this year. I wasn’t successful on my first occasion of application. I do hope you will try again in future.”
KCA has published data on the diversity of applicants which shows some improvement on last year in relation to the success of applicants from under-represented groups.
Commenting, Kirsty added: “It is positive there are successful applicants from diverse backgrounds. However, any differences in success rates relating to protected characteristics are of concern to the Bar Council, Law Society and KCA. Keeping in focus the poorer outcomes for those from minority groups over other years, there remains more work to do.
“We’ll continue to investigate where there are barriers to appointment, including at the employed Bar, and we’re keen to support further improvements to the processes for applying, including the quality of information available to applicants, to ensure members can make the most excellent applications and increase their chances of success.”