On Monday, 95 barristers will be putting on their big wigs, silk gowns and buckle shoes ahead of being shown into the position of King Counsel during a ceremony.
A tradition as old as time, the King approved the appointment of 94 barristers and one solicitor as new King’s Counsel for England and Wales back in January.
The KC title is one of the highest honours a lawyer can attain and has been in practice since 1597 after Queen Elizabeth I awarded the first batch of Queen Counsels.
The 95 people who were chosen from the 2023 competition were picked out of 283 applications.
Now this process is not cheap, the cost of application is £2,520, while successful applicants will need to make further payment of £4,320 as an appointment fee.
However, for those applicants with low incomes (gross fees below £90,000), they are entitled to pay concessionary fees, which are half the standard level.
Still, the fee is well worth it. KCs are viewed as very senior barristers or solicitor advocates, and they are recognised as experts and leaders in their legal field.
The year after they are appointed as KCs, the barrister will have to reshape their practice to suit their new title, as they will now take the lead on cases, particularly highly complex cases. As a result, their fees will also increase with their new title.
The appointment as KC is known informally as taking silk, and they are often referred to as silks due to the silk gowns they wear.
For his first time as Lord Chancellor, Alex Chalk MP (himself a barrister) will formally appoint the 2023 batch of KCs on Monday at Westminster Hall.
For this ceremony, the lawyers will have to be decked out in very eye-catching attire.
They’re required to dress up in a full-bottomed wig, a jabot at the throat, breeches, waistcoat, ruffles, white gloves, and silk gown, along with steel buckles on the shoes. An outfit can cost between £2,000-£3,000 from legal outfit boutiques located around Fleet Street.
On Monday (18 March), 65 men and 30 women will be appointed as KC, including one solicitor advocate, Hussein Haeri—the only non-barrister in the list—from City law firm Withers.
Here are a couple of tweets from X (Twitter) of KC’s at last year’s ceremony: