2012-13 Competition

PRESS RELEASE
84 NEW QUEEN’S COUNSEL APPOINTED IN 2012-13 COMPETITION

84 new appointments as Queen’s Counsel (also known as Silk) were announced today. These appointments are made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling MP, following consideration by the independent Selection Panel (the Panel). All those appointed have demonstrated excellence in advocacy in the higher
courts.

Helen Pitcher, Chairman of the QC Panel, said today:

’I am very pleased at the announcement of the 84 new Silks. I congratulate each one of them. The selection process is an exacting one. We collect confidential assessments from judges, fellow advocates and professional clients, all of whom will have seen the applicant at work. Applicants are also interviewed by two members of the Panel. The whole Panel then discusses the evidence on each applicant.

We have been impressed by the extremely high quality of the applicants. The Panel has had the difficult task of identifying the truly excellent advocates. And I am confident that those appointed today truly deserve to be the Queen’s Counsel. Although unsuccessful applicants will naturally be disappointed, I must stress that this does
not mean that they are not highly valued and effective practitioners. The standard for appointment is extreme Finally, I should like to thank Lord (Alex) Carlile of Berriew CBE QC and Felicity Huston, who are both standing down from the Selection Panel at the end of this competition, for their contribution to our work.’

The Panel is publishing a short report on the 2012-13 competition, with statistical information relating to successful and unsuccessful applicants. It will be available on the QC Appointments website.

A list of the successful new Silks is attached. Among the 84 new appointments this year (46% of all applicants) are:
• 14 women applicants (54% of the 26 who applied). In the competition in 2011-12, 23 women (58% of the 40 who applied). Once again, female applicants have been proportionately more successful than men, although men still account for most of the applicants and most of the appointments.
• 3 applicants who declared an ethnic origin other than white (14% of the 21 who applied – 2% of all applicants), a lower proportion than in 2011-12 when 6 applicants (40%) were appointed,
• 5 applicants aged over 50 at the time of their application (16% of this age group), compared with 3 successful applicants (8% of that age group) appointed last year. The youngest successful applicant on this occasion is 36 years old and the oldest 61.
• One solicitor advocate, of the 2 who applied. In 2011-12 two solicitor advocates applied, but neither was appointed. Since 2008, 8 solicitor advocates have been appointed. Four employed advocates applied this year, but none was appointed on this occasion. In 2011-12, one of the 3 employed applicants was appointed.

This year one applicant declared a disability, but was not appointed. Last year, 7 applicants declared a disability and 4 were appointed.

Notes to Editors
1. Queen’s Counsel are appointed by The Queen, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He is in turn advised by an independent Selection Panel which receives and considers each application and makes recommendations as to appointment.
2. The members of the independent Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel for the 2012-13 competition were:
Helen Pitcher (Chairman)
Sir Colin Budd KCMG
Lord (Alex) Carlile of Berriew CBE QC
Sir Alistair Graham
Felicity Huston
Linda Lee
Sir Anthony May
Frances Oldham QC
Razi Shah
The Panel is supported by its own Secretariat.

3. The scheme was developed by the Bar Council and the Law Society, with the support of the (then) Department for Constitutional Affairs, and approved by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State (Lord Falconer) in November 2004. Applications were first invited in 2005 and the first round of appointments under the new arrangements was announced in 2006. Refinements to the scheme were agreed in 2006 building on experience of the first year. The selection process is financed entirely through applicants’ fees. A copy of the agreed Process and further information is available from the Queen’s Counsel Appointments website: www.qcappointments.org.

4. Applications closed on 18 April 2012 and the Selection Panel delivered recommendations to the Lord Chancellor on 14 December 2012. Each applicant has been considered against five competencies:
• Understanding and using the law
• Written and oral advocacy
• Working with others
• Diversity
• Integrity

5. 130 of the 183 applicants were interviewed by the Selection Panel. All unsuccessful applicants receive written personal feedback on their application. The Panel expects to invite applications for the next round of appointments in March 2013.

6. The new Queen’s Counsel announced today will formally become Silks when they make their declaration before the Lord Chancellor at the ceremony on 27 March 2013.

7. Copies of the Selection Panel’s report will be available on the QCA website from 27 February 2013. Further information can also be obtained from David Watts, Head of QC Appointments Secretariat, on 0207 831 0020.

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY 5 MARCH 2012

HELEN PITCHER APPOINTED CHAIR
OF QUEEN’S COUNSEL SELECTION PANEL
AND TWO NEW MEMBERS APPOINTED TO THE PANEL

Helen Pitcher has been appointed as the new lay Chair of the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel, replacing Professor Dame Joan Higgins DBE. The Panel considers applicants for the award of Queen’s Counsel, which is given to those who demonstrate excellence in advocacy in the higher courts following an objective assessment.

The Selection Panel is independent of the legal professional bodies and of Government, and includes lay members, as well as barristers and solicitors. In addition, a new retired judicial member and a new barrister member have been appointed to the Panel: Sir Anthony May until 2011 President of the Queen’s Bench Division and Frances Oldham QC, formerly Head of Chambers at 36 Bedford Row, and a Deputy High Court Judge (Family Division).

Commenting on the appointment of Helen Pitcher, Oliver Delany and Desmond Hudson, the Directors of Queens Counsel Appointments Ltd, said:

“Helen Pitcher has been a lay member of the Panel since 2009, and this has given her a thorough understanding of the role and the value of Queen’s Counsel and of the work of the Panel. We are delighted that she will now be able to lead the work of the Panel. We congratulate Helen on her appointment and feel sure that her experience will ensure
continuation of the excellent work carried out by Professor Dame Joan Higgins, the outgoing Chair, over the past six years.

We are extremely grateful to Joan Higgins for her very considerable contribution to the work of Panel since the new arrangements were put in place in 2005. We wish her well for the future.”

Delany and Hudson added:
‘We are also delighted to welcome two new members to the QC Appointments Selection Panel. Sir Anthony May and Frances Oldham QC are both distinguished lawyers in their fields and will bring considerable knowledge and skills which will strengthen the QC appointments process.

We also pay tribute to their predecessors, Sir David Keene and Jean Ritchie QC, who are now standing down from the Selection Panel at the end of their terms of office.’

Notes to editors
1. For further information please contact the QC Appointments Secretariat on 0207 831 0020.
2. The members of the Selection Panel for the 2012-13 competition will be: • Helen Pitcher (Chair – appointed 2012, appointed lay Panel member 2009)
• Sir Colin Budd KCMG (lay member – appointed 2009)
• Lord (Alex) Carlile of Berriew CBE QC (senior barrister member – appointed 2009)
• Sir Alistair Graham (lay member – appointed 2011)
• Felicity Huston (lay member – appointed 2011)
• Linda Lee (senior solicitor member – appointed 2011)
• Sir Anthony May (retired senior judicial member – appointed 2012)
• Frances Oldham QC (senior barrister member – appointed 2012)
• Razi Shah (senior solicitor member – appointed 2009)

3. It is expected that the new Queen’s Counsel appointments as a result of the current round of applications will be announced by the Ministry of Justice on 29th February 2012.
4. Professor Dame Joan Higgins is standing down as Chair of the Selection Panel at the end of her 3 year appointment as Chair. She has been a lay member of the Panel since its inception in 2005. In addition, Sir David Keene is standing down after two years on the Selection Panel and Jean Ritchie QC is retiring at the end of a 5-
year term. Helen Pitcher
5. A qualified psychometrician, Helen Pitcher was Chief Executive of Cedar TM Ltd (a specialist Human Resource Consultancy) from 1990 – 2008, when it was bought by the Savile Group PLC., of which she is a Director. She has been the Chief Executive and Deputy Chair of IDDAS (which provides experience-based mentoring and coaching for senior executives) since 2008. She was formerly a lay representative on the PCC of the Bar Council, until 2005.

Sir Anthony May
6. Sir Anthony May joined Keating Chambers in 1968 after teaching classics. He took Silk in 1979 and was appointed to the High Court Bench in 1991 and to the Court of Appeal in 1997, becoming Deputy Head of Civil Justice and responsible for the Civil Procedure Rules. In 2008, he became President of the Queen’s Bench Division, and retired in 2011.

Frances Oldham QC
7. Frances Oldham QC was Head of Chambers at 36 Bedford Row, London, for 8 years until 2011. She is a Deputy High Court Judge (Family Division), Crown Court Recorder and a Bencher at Gray’s Inn. Former Leader of the Midland Circuit 2002- 2005. She is regularly instructed in high profile cases in Family Law and in serious crime.