At last … The steel box at the bottom of the sea has been burst open and the names of the 2020 NSW silk applicants have floated to the surface, where they bob around waiting for the sharks … Here they are … Old favourites aplenty … Bar’s difficulty with transparency … Silk purse … Sow’s ear
Last year, there were 99 contenders, with 21 winners.
Here are Justinian’s reports on the Festival of Silk going back for six years.
As many barristers are scavanging for a crust, it is an awkward time to be releasing new silks into a difficult world. Uncertainty about the bar and the future mode of operation for barristers means that the annual ritual has lost much of its gloss.
The process is unnecessarily nerve-wracking for the contenders, while the selection itself is riddled with much nose-tapping and dark Masonic rituals.
Justinian has long believed the whole charade should be scrapped, or SCs handed out to everyone over seven years before the mast. The current arrangement with a bar divided between those with plumage and those without is dated and riddled with unfairness.
Fortunately, we do find many more non-Anglo names are on the list, which is a keen indication of the shifts in society that have been afoot since Frank Hutley was in short pants.
Here are last year’s statistics of the pattern of appointments and the proportions of the bar that are silked, both male and female.
Full list of applicants for 2020 is HERE …