13th February 2017 was QC appointment day, and Oliver Sanders and Shaheen Rahman, accompanied by their families and Senior and First Junior Clerks Matthew Phipps and Andrew Tull, travelled to Westminster Hall, where they were sworn in by Lord Chancellor, Liz Truss.
The whole ceremonial occasion spans an entire day and runs in two parts held in Westminster Hall, and then the Royal Courts of Justice. Components of the swearing in ceremony date back to medieval times, with the new QCs wearing court dress, silk gown and breeches, ruffles, jabot, steel buckles and a full bottomed wig.
To be selected as a Queen’s Counsel is the highest mark of a laywer’s advocacy skills. This year 113 new Queen’s Counsel ‘took silk’. For 1 Crown Office Row, that takes the number of QCs in chambers up to 27, 7 of whom are women.
Last year, unusually, 6 members of Chambers were appointed QC.
The Chairman of the Bar, Andrew Langdon QC said, “The award of Queen’s Counsel is the definitive mark of professional quality and is one of the reasons the Bar of England and Wales enjoys a global reputation for excellence in advocacy.”
Congratulations to Oliver Sanders QC and Shaheen Rahman QC.