by Sarah Downey for Legal Business, 11 Jan 2016
A trio of City heavyweights has been appointed among 107 new Queen's Counsel (QC) announced today (11 January), an increase on last year's round of 93.
Of the nine solicitor advocates who applied, there were three successful candidates, a drop on 2014/15 when five solicitor advocates were appointed. This year's appointments include Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan arbitration head Stephen Jagusch (pictured), Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher international arbitration group co-chair Penny Madden, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London arbitration head Nigel Rawding.
However the Queen's Counsel Selection Panel has said the number of females applicants taking silk remains 'stubbornly low'.
Chairman of the selection panel Helen Pitcher said: 'We remain concerned that the number of female applicants remains stubbornly low, but I am pleased that of those women who did apply, 52% were successful. While I was pleased to note a rise in BAME applicants to 14% of applications it is disappointing that the success rate for BAME applicants was lower than that for applicants as a whole.'
