'King's Counsel' makes a return after 70 years in UK courts
Judge's gavel. Representative image
The accession of King Charles III to the throne has caused many changes in UK. The UK had a Queen for seven decades and now hasa King. The national anthem has changed from 'God save the Queen' to 'God save the King'. King Charles becoming the monarch has caused major changes in the royal bureaucracy as well.
The Queen's Counsel will now become King's Counsel.There is not one person on this post. About 1900 elite UK lawyers and hundreds of others in the Commonwealth held the rank of 'Queen's Counsel'. Now these men and women will be called 'King's Counsel', a title that was gathering dust since Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1952.
From now on, these lawyers will use the shorthand KC rather than QC on their letterheads and other materials, according to the Bar Council.
"The change of our names will be a constant reminder that the Queen has gone," said London-based King's Counsel Lord Peter Goldsmith, a partner at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton and who was the United Kingdom's attorney general from 2001 to 2007.
There are practical ramifications as well. Lawyers took to social media soon after the queen's death describing a scramble to update profiles on law firm websites and discussing the cost of new stationery — alongside many references to the disco and funk music group KC and the Sunshine Band.
"It will certainly take some time to get used to 'KC'," said Jeffrey Sullivan, a London-based partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and King's Counsel. "I imagine there will be a few slip ups over the next few months as lawyers, judges and clients adjust to the new title."
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The rank is not well known in the US but is a familiar thing in Commonwealth countries like Australia and New Zealand and others. The title is reserved for senior and highly respected lawyers.
Those who hold the title in Britain are informally called "silks" — a reference to the special silk gowns they wear in court along with the traditional wigs sported by many barristers. They are appointed by the Crown following a years-long application process.
King's Counsel enjoys several informal privileges, including front-row seats in court. They also tend to charge more for their services.
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