White & Case arbitration partners Dipen Sabharwal (pictured) and Aloke Ray make up half of the solicitor-advocates taking silk in this year’s Queen’s Counsel (QC) appointments, with 108 making the cut overall.
Completing the all-male group of solicitor-advocates taking silk were Allen & Overy partner Mark Levy and Stephen Fietta, founder of disputes boutique Fietta.
Sabharwal is head of White & Case’s EMEA international arbitration practice, and was promoted to partner in 2012. Ray joined the firm in 1999, and was promoted in 2006.
Sabharwal described taking silk as ‘the ultimate badge of recognition’. Ray, meanwhile, told Legal Business: ‘The pleasure and privilege comes from the fact it is associated with the high quality standard of work we do as a firm. Not all clients will react the same, but I can’t see how the extra recognition would hurt.’
The four solicitors appointed in this round marks the third consecutive year of decline, however: five solicitors took silk in 2017, and six the year before.
Solicitors were far more successful on average this year, however, with four out of five succeeding in their applications. Last year, only half of the ten solicitor applicants were successful.
There were also significantly less overall appointments, falling 9% to 108 from 119. There was an even greater fall in applicants, however, to 240 from 272.
Four barristers’ chambers shared the honour of having the highest number of tenants take silk: Brick Court Chambers, 39 Essex Chambers, Red Lion Chambers and Littleton Chambers each had four barristers appointed.
It continues a strong run for Red Lion Chambers, which topped the list outright last year with six barristers taking silk. For elite London set Brick Court Chambers, it is a return to form after only one tenant was made up last year.
Male appointees far outweighed successful female applicants: 78 to 30. Women were more successful on average though, with 55% of female applicants making the cut compared to 42% for men.
Ethnic minority representation remained sluggish, with 13 out of 30 non-white applicants taking silk compared to 18 out of 33 last year.
Sir Alex Allan, chair of the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel, commented: ‘We remain concerned that the number of female applicants remains comparatively low, but I am pleased that of those women who did apply, well over 50% were successful. I was also pleased to note that the number of BAME applicants appointed was in proportion to their representation amongst applicants, and amongst the relevant cohort of the profession.’
Sabharwal added: ‘The Queen’s Counsel Appointments and the Bar Council have been making strenuous efforts in improving diversity in recent years. Why the needle isn’t moving in the right direction is a complex story, but perhaps it’s a case of laying the groundwork now for a better result in a few years’ time.’
The silk swearing-in ceremony will be held on 11 March 2019.
For a longer read on the pageantry and magic of the ceremony, read ‘The Silk Round: One fine day’.
The full list of appointments (in alphabetical order):
Zubair Ahmad, 2 Hare Court
Narita Bahra, 2 Hare Court
James Bailey, Wilberforce Chambers
Charles Banner, Landmark Chambers
William Bennett, 5RB
Balraj Bhatia, No. 1 High Pavement Chambers
Anna Boase, One Essex Court
Tim Buley, Landmark Chambers
Edmund Burge, Five St Andrew’s Hill
Peter Burns, Byrom Street Chambers
Victoria Butler-Cole, 39 Essex Chambers
John Cammegh, 9 Bedford Row
Giles Cannock, Kings Chambers
Lorraine Cavanagh, St John’s Buildings
Mark Chacksfield, 8 New Square
Richard Chapman, 18 St John Street Chambers
Nicholas Corsellis, QEB Hollis Whiteman
Catherine Cowton, Queen Elizabeth Building
Nicholas Craig, 3 Verulam Buildings
Timothy Cray, 6KBW College Hill
Clifford Darton, Ely Place Chambers
Andrew de Mestre, 4 Stone Buildings
Peter de Verneuil Smith, 3 Verulam Buildings
Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court
Kevin Dent, 5 St Andrew’s Hill
Thomas Dumont, Radcliffe Chambers
Rory Dunlop, 39 Essex Chambers
David Durose, Furnival Chambers
Nigel Edwards, St Pauls Chambers
David Emanuel, Garden Court Chambers
Stephen Fietta, Fietta
Dean George, 2 Bedford Row
Katherine Goddard, Bank House Chambers
Michael Goodwin, Red Lion Chambers
Nina Grahame, Garden Court North Chambers
Margaret Gray, Brick Court Chambers
Jaime Hamilton, Nine St John Street
Jonathan Hand, Outer Temple Chambers
Mark Harries, Carmelite Chambers
Christopher Harris, 3 Verulam Buildings
Alec Haydon, Brick Court Chambers
Thomas Hickman, Blackstone Chambers
Isabel Hitching, Crown Office Chambers
Fiona Horlick, Outer Temple Chambers
Mozammel Hossain, 187 Fleet Street
Nicola Howard, 25 Bedford Row
Nicholas Isaac, Tanfield Chambers
Sarah Jones, Pump Court Chambers
Robert Kellar, 1 Crown Office Row
Charlotte Kilroy, Doughty Street Chambers
Ronit Kreisberger, Monckton Chambers
Lindsay Lane, 8 New Square
James Leabeater, 4 Pump Court
Mark Levy, Allen & Overy
David Lewis, Hardwicke
Richard Littler, Exchange Chambers
Dale Martin, Littleton Chambers
Jane McCafferty, 11KBW
Constance McDonnell, Serle Court
Nicholas Medcroft, Fountain Court Chambers
Christina Michalos, 5RB
Sian Mirchandani, 4 New Square
Keir Monteith, Garden Court Chambers
Giles Mooney, 9 Gough Square
Alison Morgan, 6KBW College Hill
Aparna Nathan, Devereux Chambers
Michelle Nelson, Red Lion Chambers
Brian Nicholson, 11 South Square
Robert Palmer, Monckton Chambers
Christopher Paxton, Red Lion Chambers
Alan Payne, 5 Essex Court Chambers
Simon Pentol, 25 Bedford Row
Fionn Pilbrow, Brick Court Chambers
Nigel Povoas, 7 Bedford Row
Steven Powles, Doughty Street Chambers
Sarah Pritchard, Kings Chambers
Aloke Ray, White & Case
Jonathan Rees, Churchers Solicitors
Jamie Riley, Littleton Chambers
James Rivett, Pump Court Tax Chambers
James Roberts, 1 King’s Bench Walk
Daniel Robinson, Red Lion Chambers
Dipen Sabharwal, White & Case
Daniel Saoul, 4 New Square
Diya Sen Gupta, Blackstone Chambers
Mohinderpal Sethi, Littleton Chambers
Daniel Shapiro, Crown Office Chambers
Neil Sheldon, 1 Crown Office Row
Nicholas Sidall, Littleton Chambers
Katherine Sloane, Monckton Chambers
Julia Smart, Furnival Chambers
Christopher Smith, Quadrant Chambers
Jessica Stephens, 4 Pump Court
John Thackray, Wilberforce Chambers
David Thomas, 39 Essex Chambers
James Todd, 39 Essex Chambers
Stephanie Tozer, Falcon Chambers
William Upton, Six Pump Court
Guglielmo Verdirame, 20 Essex Street
Jeremy Wainwright, 3 Temple Gardens
Victoria Wakefield, Brick Court Chambers
Robert Walton, Landmark Chambers
David Whittaker, 2 Hare Court
Adam Wolanski, 5RB
Damian Woodward-Carlton, 42 Bedford Row
Richard Wormald, Three Raymond Buildings
David Yates, Pump Court Tax Chambers
Hossein Zahir, Garden Court Chambers
