Fourteen new Queen's Counsel named

Thirteen advocates and one solicitor advocate have been appointed Queen’s Counsel by the Queen on the recommendation of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The new appointees are Jonathan Barne, Lynda Brabender, Almira Delibegovic-Broome, James Findlay, Anthony Graham, Gavin MacColI, Stephen O'Rourke, David Parratt, Martin Richardson, Thomas Ross, Michael Stuart, David Thomson and Gavin Walker, all advocates, and Antony Jones, a solicitor advocate with civil rights of audience and a partner in BTO Solicitors.

Nominations from this year's applicants were made to the First Minister by the Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, after consulting other judges, the Lord Advocate, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and the President of the Law Society of Scotland.

The independent observer of the process, Heather Baillie, has reported that 24 advocates applied to become Queen's Counsel this year, compared with 23 last year, along with five solicitor advocates (eight last year, a greater number than usual), one of whom withdrew their application. She records that the assessment process was fair and objective, that the recommendations she made last year regarding the application process have been implemented and that she has no further recommendations to make.