QC season underway in Qld as barristers rush for royal bling … Sadly, the Queens Counsel bauble has failed to lift business at the Brisneyland bar  

Forty-two Qld barristers have put up their hands for Bleijie Baubles, the annual Christmas presents doled out to whoever passes the litmus test. 

Named in honour of one of the states greatest-ever conveyancers general, Jiving Jarrod Bleijie, the QC is an eagerly sought after piece of bling. 

Interestingly, the Queens Counsel Consultation Group has been divvied up, so that each member is responsible for receiving comments for a group of applicants. 

All the comments have to be lodged by September 15. Filtering and assessment then takes place before the the names of the favoured few are sent to the CJ, and from there to the AG. 

There are some old favourites here – Mark Plunkett, Andrew Boe, Lorenzo Boccabella and Paul Favell – and as many as three women have applied. 

The applicants and their relevant comment monitors are as follows: 

Senior Counsel from the NSW bar insist that QCs from Brisbane and Melbourne are failing to make any competitive impact on Sydney silks – that the royal plumage has not persuaded sophisticated clients. 

See Prez Hughes missive where he said, “Obviously, the greater the number of informed comments the QC consultation group receives from members, the more reliable its recommendations to the chief justice may be”.