No more QCs or SCs to be appointed this year

There are no Queens’ Counsel or Senior Counsel to be appointed this year and, a spokesman for Attorney General Chris Finlayson says. NBR "Briefcase" columnist John Bowie writes that the Attorney General has no intention of appointing SCs. The Lawyers and Conveyancers Bill has not passed and there is no time for a nomination period.

Bowie writes: "The issue of QCs’ appointment with their nudge, nudge, wink, wink connotations have long intrigued many in the profession, not the least being the ranks of those who have not quite reached the hallowed heights despite or perhaps because of repeated application.

"The appointment process itself can be critiqued, not the least because it remains shrouded in a certain mystery that reeks of fusty old boys and their confounded networks. There’s no doubt the top talent mostly makes the cut, although there are some odd exceptions which perhaps indicate that old girls like Margaret Wilson played the game by different rules. Some get it by dint of sheer determination, others as if by some honorarium.

"But the wider, more important issue is why should they exist in a society where our playing fields are increasingly flat? Why create this elevated status and provide an opportunity for even more barristers to talk with perfectly rounded vowels, often through their noses.

"Submissions made to the Justice and Electoral Committee show the Bar Association came out strongly in favour of restoring the rank of Queen’s Counsel, while Chapman Tripp partner Jack Hodder came out even more strongly against the two-tier system and appealed for the end of the silks, notwithstanding his own status as Senior Counsel.

"Although the Hodder submission was made in his private capacity, you have to wonder how much the large firms like his, or even some of the more powerful boutiques, want to retain silks. Once removed, the power of the firms is more centralized. The demand to “hire a silk” is removed. The position of the in-house litigator is enhanced. Why would the large firms want to retain the silk route? If, by contrast, there were retained senior counsel who could be appointed within firms, then the firms’ power is once again enhanced."

Comparisons are also drawn with Australia, as they have been in the intervention rule debate. Although there has been the occasional Australian QC who has worked in a firm, they all obtained their rank at the bar. Some, like Tony Fitzgerald, of Fitzgerald report fame, worked briefly as a consultant to Allens and the occasional tired QC drops into a firm on a consultancy.

ENDS

© Scoop Media