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Clifford Chance's Popham becomes honorary QC as 120 take silk

Clifford Chance’s former senior partner Stuart Popham has been made an honorary QC in this year’s silks appointments round.

Stuart Popham

Stuart Popham

A total of 118 barristers and two solicitor advoctaes have been appointed silk, Lord Chancellor and justice secretary Kenneth Clarke announced this morning.

The successful applicants include 3 Verulam Buildings’ Sonia Tolaney, previously tipped as a star in the making in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 2010.

Solicitor advocate David Price, who secured victory in the Supreme Court’s landmark ’honest comment’ decision in December 2010 (1 December 2010), was also made a QC.

The 120 new silks represent 48 per cent of the 251 who applied. A total of 41 women applied for silk and 27 were successful.

Selection panel chair Professor Dame Joan Higgins said “relatively few” women were putting themselves forward, but the high success rate sent a “positive signal” to all suitably qualified female advocates.

Twelve of the new silks said they were of an ethnic origin other than white. Although this is a smaller number than the 17 new black and minority ethnic silks appointed in 2010, the success rate of 60 per cent of applicants was higher than last year.

Five solicitor-advocates applied for silk, making the success rate 40 per cent compared to 10 per cent (one from 10 applicants) in 2010.

A total of six honorary silks have been appointed. Joining Popham are human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman of Bindmans, Peters & Peters consultant Monty Raphael, First Parliamentary Counsel Sir Stephen Laws, Master Roger Venne, who is master of  the Crown Office, and Edinburgh University academic and Cloisters Chambers member Professor Anthony Bradley.

The list of new silks in full is as follows:

Michael James Royston Ashcroft

Richard Paul Atkins

Ali Naseem Bajwa

Manuel David Barca

Fiona Barton

Daniel Matthew Beard

Jason Beer

Philip James Bennetts

Simon Lloyd Bickler

Edward James Bishop

Timothy Harper Paul Bishop

Paul Simon Bogan

Richard Edward Stanley Boulton

Janine Kirsty Brimelow

Simon Peter Buchanan Browne

Nicholas David Caddick

Sara Elizabeth Cockerill

Stephen William Cogley

Benjamin Edward Compton

Barbara Winifred Connolly

Adam Michael Constable

Tina Gail Cook

Rosina Cottage

Simon Csoka

Katharine Mary Davidson

Glen Milton Davis

Joel Donovan

James Frederick Drake

Simon Patrick Drew

Michael Charles Duck

Tim Eicke

Nkumbe Ekaney

Gillian Felicity Amanda Etherton

Judith Sarah Farbey

Michael Neil Gibbon

Lisa Caterina Giovannetti

Simon Anthony Gorton

Eleanor Mary Grace Grey

Samuel Marc Grodzinski

Paul Best Harris

Alexandra Healy

Javan William Herberg

Jonathan Alexander Cameron Higgs

Patricia Ann Hitchcock

David Moore Holland

Rex Andrew Howling

Theodore David Huckle

Simon David Hughes

Martin Anthony Hutchings

Barry Russell Isaacs

Jeremy Charles Johnson

Christopher George Johnston

Gregory Jones

Daniel Simon Suzman Jowell

Phillippa Jane Kaufmann

Kalyani Kaul

Adrian Francis Keeling

Karim Asad Ahmad Khan

Tahir Zaffar Khan

Gwynneth Frances Knowles

Julian Bernard Knowles

Francis Joseph Laird

Ian Douglas Lawrie

Eleanor Jane Laws

Simon Reginald Laws

Stewart Leech

Ian Douglas Leist

David Anthony Lock

Alistair William Orchard MacDonald

Peter John Sibley MacDonald Eggers

Michael Magarian

Paul Anthony McGrath

John Vincent Barry McLinden

Simon Edward Medland

Poonam Arjandas Melwani

Rajiv Menon

Andrew Edward Mitchell

Vincent John Moran

Richard Hugo Lyndon Morgan

Sarah Mary Morgan

Timothy Francis Morshead

Keith Farrance Morton

Peter Charles Edward Moulson

William Howard Moulsey

James Malachi Mulholland

Andrew Richard Oldland

Anthony Edward Orchard

Fiona Jane Parkin

Rohan Anthony Pershad

Sarah Georgina Plaschkes

David Wallace Platt

Lewis Niall Power

David Jack Price

Christopher John Quinlan

Eason Thurai Rajah

Jennifer Richards

Paul Anthony Wellington Russell

Simon Lopez Salzedo

Leslie John Samuels

Oliver Leon Segal

Howard Shaw

Clive David Sheldon

Nicolas Kyd Stallworthy

Paul David Stinchcombe

Mark Sutton

Timothy Hugh Christian Taylor

Bernard Tetlow

Robert Owain Philip Thomas

Amanda Jane Tipples

Sonia Tolaney

Felicity Rosalind Toube

Andrew Mark Twigger

Christopher David Wagstaffe

Andrew Paul Dalton Walker

Timothy Justin Ward

Jeremy Paul Weston

John Justin Whitting

John Armstrong Wilson

Catherine Wood

Amanda Louise Yip

Readers' comments (13)

  • Good for him. A truer gent would be hard to find in the City

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  • Hmmmm, still not a very diverse list. Will the upper echelons of the bar always be peopled by white men???? Well done to everyone none the less. Even Mr Popham! He's not even a litigator is he???

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  • It doesn't look like the revised silk appointments process is really making much difference in the diversity stakes, does it? Several years in and no huge improvement - particularly in application numbers.

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  • Did Popham have to apply for this?

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  • Diversity, diversity, diversity. Can't think of anything intelligent to say? No, let's make a sarcastic comment about diversity then.

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  • Diversity can only occur if the pool of applicants is diverse. To say that the revised silk appointments isn't making much difference because of a lack of diversity is unreflective of the fact that they pool of applicants is not diverse.
    The real problem with diversity harks back far further than the silk appointments. To address it, we need to look at our education system and the diversity of individuals with the ability to succeed at the Bar.
    That said, the Bar now ranks pretty well in the diversity stakes. One would, therefore, expect to see more "diverse" silk appointments as the system filters itself.
    On another note - diversity should not play a part in silk appointments. This isn't a box ticking exercise. It shouldn't matter if you're black, brown, blue, green or white. If you have the ability and meet the criteria - it is likely you will make the grade.

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  • congratulations to our son Clive Sheldon on his appointment as QC

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  • Congratulations to all. Good to see some ethnic minorities (albeit unreflective of the number at the Bar) in the list of names.

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  • Many Congratulations to Stephen William Cogley on taking silk.

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  • I was at Bar School with Ali Bajwa. It was pretty obvious the (1992) that he was something special and destined for Silk. He was a lovely guy, very modest and very very gifted. Well done, richly deserved.

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