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Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel are senior lawyers in Commonwealth countries who are appointed by letters patent from the Crown. They have special status recognized by courts and wear silk gowns of a special design, which is why becoming a QC is called "taking silk." Lawyers usually have to serve as a barrister or advocate for at least 10 years before being appointed as a QC. QCs generally charge higher fees than ordinary barristers and always have a junior barrister as an assistant, even if the junior has more experience.

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53 views2 pages

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel are senior lawyers in Commonwealth countries who are appointed by letters patent from the Crown. They have special status recognized by courts and wear silk gowns of a special design, which is why becoming a QC is called "taking silk." Lawyers usually have to serve as a barrister or advocate for at least 10 years before being appointed as a QC. QCs generally charge higher fees than ordinary barristers and always have a junior barrister as an assistant, even if the junior has more experience.

Uploaded by

Shekhar Singh
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel (postnominal QC), during the reign of a male sovereign known as King's Counsel (KC), are senior lawyers in various Commonwealth countries. They are appointed by letters patent to be one of "Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the law". They are not a separate type of lawyer. They are more than long serving lawyers, because their status is given by the Crown and recognised by the courts. Queen's Counsel have the privilege of sitting within the Bar of court, and wear silk gowns of a special design (hence the informal title Silks). The special robes are the reason why becoming a QC is often called "taking silk". In order to "take silk" a lawyer usually has to serve as a barrister or a Scottish advocate for at least 10 years. Recently solicitors have also been appointed Queen's Counsel. A QC's status means they generally charge higher fees than ordinary barristers, and always have another barrister as an assistant. This assistant is called a "junior" even if the junior has been a lawyer longer than the "silk".

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors


Queen's Counsel Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=4221955 Contributors: Barliner

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