Here we go again … The NSW bar’s 2017 list of senior counsel applicants … A list groaning with prospects … Women amount to almost 20 percent of the contenders 

However, this year the proportion of women applicants is higher at 19.5 percent, comparied to last year’s 11.8 percent. Other tiny dots of diversity can be spotted on close inspection. 

Approximately 16 percent of the 2,353 NSW barristers are silks. The powers-that-be don’t want it to get too far beyond that percentage lest the market become devalued. 

Most newspapers would label this report as an “exclusive”. We call it a “scoop”.