Buncefield barrister Edey awarded silk in 2009 QC round

The only lead counsel on the Buncefield litigation who was not a QC has been awarded silk in this year’s round of QC appointments.

Philip Edey (pictured), a member of 20 Essex St, was one of the youngest to put in a successful application and was appointed silk after only 15 years call. He is one of more than 100 barristers to take silk this year.

On the Buncefield litigation, the civil proceedings that arose out of the explosion at the Buncefield oil depot on 11 December 2005, Edey represented Hertfordshire Oil Storage, the joint venture company that was Total’s co-defendant in the litigation.

He was also named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 this year.

The youngest barrister to make silk in the round is 4 Pump Court construction, engineering and energy law specialist Sean Brannigan.

The 37-year-old said: “The next few years are going to be tremendously exciting and challenging ones for the construction industry in terms of both coping with the economic downturn and delivering what I think will be one of the most important projects for Britain in the last 50 years, the London 2012 Olympics.

“I hope that this early step into silk will help me play a role, however minor, in that delivery”.

Elsewhere in the appointments list, Blackstone Chambers boosted its QC ranks by two, 7KBW by one and One Essex Court by three.

A total of 104 new QCs will take silk before the Lord Chancellor at the ceremony on 30 March, representing a success rate of 42 per cent.

Only 247 barristers applied for QC status this year, compared with 333 last year and 443 the year before. The QC selection panel made 98 silk appointments last year and 175 in 2007. Sixteen women made the grade from only 29 applicants this year.

Baroness Butler-Sloss, interim chairman of the QC selection panel, said: “For the third year running the success rate for women applicants is significantly better than for men: 55 per cent for women compared to 40 per cent for men.

“It’s particularly disappointing therefore that fewer women seem to be applying for silk, resulting in fewer appointments.”

Four lawyers applied to become solicitor-advocates with three making the grade, while four of the 15 applicants who declared an ethnic origin other than white were appointed QCs.

The full list of QCs to be appointed in 2009

Raquel Agnello
Benjamin Adejuwon Olufemi Aina
Maureen Anne Baker
John Peter Beggs
Simon Christopher Bird
Nicholas James Hugh Bowen
Peter John Brannigan
Christopher John Bright
Paul Martin Brown
Neil St Clair Cameron
Susan Claire Campbell
Bruce Conrad Carr
Alain Choo-Choy
Christopher Clee
Philip Antony Coppel
Nicholas Neville Grylls Cusworth
Simon Nicholas Davenport
Simon Neil Denison
Simon Peter Devonshire
Jude Dexter Dias
Philip David Edey
Peter Anthony Finnigan
Jervis Andrew Fisher
Peter Donald Fraser
Steven Gasztowicz
Mark McHallam George
Judith Ann Elizabeth Gill
Richard Michael Glover
Michael Anthony Green
Richard Neil Handyside
Richard Anthony Harding
Simon John Robert Hargreaves
Richard Simon Hermer
Nicholas Mark Hill
Thomas Patrick James Hill
Timothy John Hill
Piers Alexandra Hilliard
Paul Andrew Hopkins
Mark George Hoskins
Craig Howell Williams
Benedict John Wakelin Hubble
Ignatius Loyola Hughes
Ann Elizabeth Hussey
Andrew Jefferies
David Benjamin Josse
Stephen Eric Jourdan
Hugo George Keith
Paul Robert Keleher
Alan Peter Kent
Graham Roy Knowles
Philip Alan Kolvin
Christina Caroline Lambert
Rachel Langdale
Robert John Lawson
Adam Valentine Shervey Lewis
Andrew William Lewis
David William Lord
Paul David Lowenstein
Alan John Maclean
Richard Austin Mansell
Charles Peter Manzoni
David Georges Mainfroy Marks
Gillian Matthews
Iain Charles Morley
Leigh-Ann Maria Mulcahy
Andrew Graham Neish
Paul Lance Newman
Mary Bernadette O’Rourke
Wendy Jane Outhwaite
Nicholas Christopher Peacock
Anthony Nicholas George Peto
Stephen James Phillips
Christopher James Pocock
Albert John Price
Stuart Rafferty
Fergus Mark Harry Randolph
Michael Edward Rawlinson
Penelope Jane Reed
Graham Joseph Reeds
Peter John Rees
Andrew George Ritchie
Jennifer Mary Roberts
Aidan Malcolm David Robertson
Daphne Irene Romney
Charles Stephen Samek
Jeffrey Keith Samuels
Christopher Frank Smith
Joanna Angela Smith
Simon Peter Spence
Samuel Stein
Romano Francesco Subiotto
Michael John Tappin
Richard Frazer Todd
Daniel Ze’ev Toledano
Stephen Richard Tromans
David Benjamin Turner
Justin John Turner
Mark James Vanhegan
Stephen Paul Walsh
Anthony Dennis Watson
David Wolfson
Robert Andrew Philip Woodcock
Mark Charles Wyeth
Mohammed Khalil Zaman

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