NSW Bar appoints 26 senior counsel

The president of the NSW Bar Association has announced the senior counsel appointments for 2015.

Lara Bullock • 25 September 2015 • The Bar

NSW Bar Association president Jane Needham SC (pictured) announced that 26 out of 113 barristers were successful in their application for silks this year - 23 men and three women.

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The 26 appointments bring the total number of barristers holding silk in NSW to 392, of which 9.95 per cent are women.

This percentage is up from 9.87 per cent in 2014 but still below the 10.8 per cent in 2013.

The percentage of women silks is still far below the percentage of women barristers.

Out of the 2,324 barristers holding a NSW practising certificate, 497 are women – 21.4 per cent of the total.

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This percentage has improved from 20.8 per cent in 2014 and 19.9 per cent in 2013.

The three women appointed senior counsel this year are Dominique Hogan-Doran, who commenced practice at the NSW Bar in 1995, Maria Cinque, who commenced practice in 1998, and Gina O’Rourke, who commenced practice in 2002.

The barrister with the most years of experience to be appointed senior counsel is John Turnbull, who commenced practice in 1983, and the barrister with the shortest amount of time under their belt is Jeremy Giles, who commenced practice in 2006.

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David Talintyre Thursday, 01 October 2015

Agreed. Another lazy analysis by a publication that can only think on one plane at a time. As to the committee system, it appears to be nearly impossible to gain entry in my experience. I started putting my hand up some years back, rather naively thinking it was worthwhile to put something back into my profession. Seems to be a closed shop to me. I appreciate there is something to be said for retaining 'corporate experience' in a given committee but some renewal from time to time wouldn't hurt either.

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Michael Martin Tuesday, 29 September 2015

I have no problem with the article's analysis as to gender balance issues. However the heading suggested that the article might have actually contained details of all the successful candidates, which, as a former NSW practitioner now based in Victoria, I would have been interested to read. Looks like I'll have to resort to Google to get that information!

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Shovel Monday, 28 September 2015

Every year its the same slant from this publication.This many women = this percentage. Ho hum. Any deeper analysis of the process ,the break up,the over representation of salaried barristers from the DPP &PDs in the last however many years .Any chance of a look at how being on Bar Council,having the right friends on Bar Council or being on the cool committee's like equal opportunity seem to give some barristers a head start. Any discussion about how quickly new female silk get bumped up to the District Court bench so the A-G can bang on about gender equity. This then means the all important % drops so we better appoint some more women .Any thoughts that maybe the above is an issue that MAY be fuelling division in the profession? No ... nothing. No surprises here!

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Carmine Monday, 28 September 2015

Actually, the point was what percentage of the Bar are now female. The complete list of all appointees has already been widely and publicly disseminated. Feeling threatened by 15% are we? Hilarious.

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Carmine Monday, 28 September 2015

What was not stated was that the 2 barristers who work in crime aside, only one female barrister doing civil work at the private Bar was appointed: pretty poor showing, hopefully more women will apply next year. It would be nice to see more female silks (any) in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, where I mostly work, especially in large Equity and Common Law matters. I'm getting lonely being the only (junior) female barrister in any given hearing....

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JH Monday, 28 September 2015

It only matters to LW how many women were appointed. That was the whole point of the article.

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Andrew Spoiler Friday, 25 September 2015

Quite Michael; even helpful!

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Michael Martin Friday, 25 September 2015

Telling us the names of the other successful candidates may have been slightly more newsworthy perhaps?!

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