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King's Counsel Appointments

King's Counsel Appointments
King’s Counsel – the award for excellence in advocacy

The award of King’s Counsel is for excellence in advocacy and is made to practising advocates – both barristers and solicitors – who have rights of audience in the higher courts of England and Wales and have demonstrated excellence in difficult cases in those higher courts, or in tribunals or arbitrations.

The framework within which the King’s Counsel competition runs is set by the Bar Council and the Law Society.

The King’s Counsel Selection Panel is responsible for recommendations to the Lord Chancellor on appointment of King’s Counsel. The Panel currently comprises two judicial members; two barristers; two solicitors and five lay members, including the Chair of the Panel, and is supported by a secretariat.

Further information on the process, the Panel and its work can be found at: www.kcappointments.org

We hope you have found this page useful, but please contact the KCA Secretariat if you need any further assistance. We are always happy to help.

Articles

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Silk’s unsung heroes: assessor FAQs

Let’s hear it for the assessors, says Dame Anne Rafferty of the KC Selection Panel. And to make silk assessors’ lives a little easier when applicants come calling in May, Dame Anne fields some commonly asked questions

15 April 2024
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Applying for silk in 2024

Monisha Shah, Chair of the King’s Counsel Selection Panel, gives an insight into the silk selection process and outlines a new condensed timetable for 2024

12 February 2024

Providing your best evidence at a KC selection interview

The King's Counsel Selection Panel wants you to be confident that you are well prepared and can demonstrate your skills and experience to the best of your ability at the interview. This guide, written by King's Counsel Appointments, is to help you understand how a competency-based interview is conducted and how to prepare yourself for the interview

08 February 2024

Interview all areas: your silk application

Just being brilliant at the law is not enough, though it is a requirement: an insider guide to the interview part of the KC application process. By Sara Nathan OBE

15 February 2023

Success in silk 2021/22 – insight

Peter Purvis talks to five successful candidates from the 2021/22 competition to find out why they applied, their experience of the selection process and what advice they would share with others

28 February 2023

How the Silk Selection Panel approaches its task

Sir Alex Allan and Monisha Shah, the outgoing and incoming Chairs of the QC Selection Panel, offer an insight into the appointment process and, in particular, its approach to diversity issues

01 February 2022

Silk profiles 2019/20

Peter Purvis profiles five silks successful in the 2019/20 competition


08 March 2021

Job of the Week

Strategic Moves

Join Antony Hodari in-house

No-one should have to live in sub-standard accommodation, says Antony Hodari Solicitors. We are tackling the problem of bad housing with a two-pronged approach and act on behalf of tenants in both the civil and criminal courts

Record pupillage numbers

Pupillage offers hit new record exceeding pre-pandemic levels, Bar Council report finds

Senior Crown Prosecutor

What’s it like being a Senior Crown Prosecutor? Stuart Page describes what drew him to the role, the skills required, and a typical day in the life

Q&A with The Barrister Group

Harry Hodgkin, CEO of The Barrister Group, gives an insight into Chambers' core principles and the individual barrister's experience

CPS in Top 10 Employers for Working Families

Congratulations to the Crown Prosecution Service – a Top 10 Employer for Working Families 2023

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Shorten the journey into the boardroom with CGIUKI’s Fast Track

With the explosion of interest in governance and the growing need to be multi-skilled to keep career options open, adding an extra string to your bow is not without its merits. The Chartered Governance Institute UK Ireland (CGIUKI) Fast Track for the Chartered Governance Qualifying Programme could be ideal for experienced professionals to reach chartered governance status