One hundred and twenty eight hopefuls have their hands up for the silk gown in the NSW bar's annual selection process ... New protocols to be tested ... Ambition, ego, status and money all jostling for a rails position ... We have the names
The names of this year's applicants for silk in NSW are ...
ADAMS Neil John - CWealth DPP
ANDERSON Jay Outram - 15 Garfield Barwick
AUSTRON Warren Peter Young - 15 Wardell
BARAN, David Emmanuel - Jack Shand
BARBER, William Charles - Trust Chambers
BARRETT Patrick Edward - Crown Prosecutor Sydney
BATEY Peter - Waratah Chambers
BEVAN, Christopher John - 8 Wentworth
BLACK Anthony James - Elizabeth Street Chambers
BRAHAM Peter Sidney - 11 Wentworth
BURCHETT Simon John - 2 Selborne
BUTLER Graham Frank - 6 Windeyer
CAVANAGH Richard Austin - Edmond Barton
CHEESEMAN Elizabeth Anne - 7 Wentworth
CHENEY Richard John - 10 Selborne/Wentworth
CLIMPSON Stephen Wayne - 11 Wentworth
COLEMAN Andrew Phillip - Banco
COLLINS Elizabeth Ann - 6 Selborne/Wentworth
CORISH Scott - Forbes Chambers
CURTIN Gregory - Sir James Martin
DHANJI Hament Kumar - Forbes Chambers
DICKER Matthew Charles Leckie - Blackstone
DOCKING Brendan Gregory - HB Higgins
DRUMMOND John Stephen - 16 Wardell
DUGGAN Sandra Anne - Martin Place Chambers
DUNCAN James George - 11 St James Hall
EINSTEIN Leslie Stephen - 9 Wentworth
EVANS Geoffrey Brookes - 7 Wentworth
EVANS Michael Brookes - 8 Windeyer
FARMER Gregory Anthony - Jack Shand
FINNANE Stephen Charles - 11 Garfield Barwick
FITZSIMMONS William Mark - 9 Windeyer
FRASER Peter Michael - 5 Selborne
FREEMAN Christopher Dominic - Culwulla
FURNESS Gail Barton - 11 St James
GEORGE Gregory Peter - 3 Wentworth
GLISSAN Paul Raymond - 4 Selborne
GOOLEY John Vincent - Blackstone
GRACIE Malcolm Reeves - Blackstone
GRAHAM Duncan Ewing - 2 Selborne
GRANT Graham Campbell - 12 Selborne/Wentworth
GRAY Ventry Rollo Wakefield - 13 St James Hall
GREGORY Simon Andrew - 13 Selborne/Wentworth
HANLEY Stephen Scott - Samuel Griffiths
HARRISON Nicolas Antony Preston - North Coast Chambers
HATCHER Adam Andrew - HB Higgins
HEATHCOTE Gregory Robert - 8 Garfield Chambers
HENNESSY John Michael - 10 Selborne/Wentworth
HENSKENS Alistair Andrew - 9 Selborne
HERPS Richard Allan - Crown Prosecutor Sydney
HOGAN-DORAN Dominique - 6/7 St James Hall
HOLLO Robert Steven - 6 Selborne/Wentworth
HOWELL Claire Mary - Denman Chambers
HUGHES Braddon Hamilton - Crown Prosecutor Sydney
HULL Brendan - 12 Selborne/Wentworth
INGRAM Phillip Gerard Crown - Prosecutor Sydney
JENKINS Michael John - 5 Selborne
JOHNSON Geoffrey Thomas - 15 Wardell
JOHNSON James Tom - Frederick Jordan
JONES Gregory John - 11 Garfield Barwick
JONES Paul Stanley - 15 Wardell
JORDAN David Keith - 4 Selborne
JUDGE Lynette Elizabeth - Lachlan Macquarie
KEARNEY Michael Patrick - Waratah
KENNETT Geoffrey Ross - 10 Selborne/Wentworth
KORN John Warwick - East Sydney Chambers
KOSTOPOULOS Andrew John - Edmund Barton
LARKIN Patrick William - Nigel Bowen
LAWSON Mark Roy - Edmund Barton
LYNCH Terrence Michael - Blackstone
McDONALD Patricia (Trish) Emily - 10 Selborne/Wentworth
McGRATH Garry William - 8 Wentworth
McQUILLEN Anthony John - 5 Selborne
MALLON Peter David Anthony - 10 St James Hall
MANOUSARIDIS Nicholas - Nigel Bowen Chambers
MARSHALL Roger David - Ground Floor Wentworth
MAXWELL Michael John - Ada Evans
MESCHER Igor - Maurice Byers
MILLER Peter Maxwell - Crown Prosecutor Sydney
MOONEY Peter Joseph - Jack Shand
MOORE Geoffrey Allan - 13 St James
MORRIS Jeremy Mearns - 13 St James
MORRIS Peter Mark - Ground Floor Wentworth
O'DONNELL Christopher Peter - Frederick Jordan
OWER Terence Michael - 4 Wentworth
PAISH Peter Michael - Samuel Griffiths
PEARCE James Harold - Denman
PERRIGNON Richard John - 4 St James Hall
PRINCE Shane Eric John - State Chambers
ROBERTSON David Alexander Cochrane - Nigel Bowen
ROBINSON Mark Anthony - 3 Wentworth
SCHONELL Richard Malcolm - Family Law Chambers
SCOTT Malcolm Kevin - State Chambers
SCRAGG Gregory John Lambert - Frederick Jordan
SEARLE Adam David - State Chambers
SEIDEN Rashelle Leah - Ground Floor Wentworth
SHIELDS Brett John Anderson - 12 Selborne/Wentworth
SINGLETON Peter Francis - 3 St James Hall
SKINNER Peter Mark - 5 Wentworth
SMALLBONE David Andrew - Frederick Jordan
SORENSEN Holger Ronald - Ground Floor Wentworth
SPENCER Anthony Philip - 3 St James Hall
STACK David Raymond - 3 Wentworth
STANTON Stephen Joseph - 7 Windeyer
SVEHLA Julian Terence - Blackstone
TABUTEAU Giles James - Crown Prosecutor Sydney
TAYLOR Ingmar - State Chambers
THANGARAJ Murugan - Forbes Chambers
THOMAS George Michael - Inns of Court
THOMSON James Evan - 13 Selborne/Wentworth
THORPE Terrance William - Crown Prosecutor Sydney
TRAILL Catherine (Kate) Margaret - 3 St James Hall
TREBECK Julian Alexander - Frederick Jordan
TURNBULL John Barclay - 9 Windeyer
TURNER Graeme Turner - 12 Selborne/Wentworth
WALKER Mary Catherine - 9 Selborne
WARREN Ralph Stuart - Newcastle Chambers
WAUGH Gregory Richard - 12 Selborne/Wentworth
WEBB Angus Macgregor - Carl Shannon
WEINSTEIN Richard Howard - 8 Selborne
WENDLER Gabriel Dominicus - 7 Windeyer
WILKINSON Stephen William - 11 Garfield Barwick
WILSON Eric William - Crown Prosecutors
WILSON Dennis - Paul Edmund Barton
WYLIE Ian Stuart - Blackstone
YOUNG Marcus Wolstenholme - University Chambers
YOUNG James (Jim) Henry - Trust Chambers
ZAMMIT Michael Samuel - Blackstone
* * *
One hundred and twenty eight in all, a slight increase from 2009's 120 hopefuls.
Of the total applicants in 2010, 8.5 percent are women - down from last year's 11.5 percent.
Plenty of old contenders reappear.
However, this year new protocols and "conventions" are in place - supposedly designed to guide the process more equitably and transparently.
This follows years of unhappiness about how senior counsel were selected, culminating in barrister Greg Curtin's famous open letter last year to members of the bar and the subsequent report by Roger Gyles, in which he described silk selection as "superficial".
Read Curtin's critique of the silk selection process HERE.
Read Curtin's recent analysis of the bar's new protocols and conventions HERE.
The Gyles report with its relatively gentle nudging of the system can be located HERE.
Basically, applicants are now required to submit a list of contested cases in which they were involved in the preceding 12 months.
The names of the cases, the judges, the opposing counsel and the applicants' solicitors are to be provided.
The selection committee will then follow-up with oral inquiries.
The hope is that the system will evolve from a beauty parade to a proper performance-based assessment.
The system is adjustable to fit special circumstances; e.g. where a barrister has been involved in a long-running case or spent a lengthy period preparing for a large case or specialises in mediations.
Details about the work is still required to be submitted in these circumstances.
Greg Curtin, who is now on the bar council, described the new arrangements, in this way:
"The result will be a targeted, performance-based assessment of an applicant’s abilities, with some natural justice being given to applicants in that negative comments will be checked with others.
"The system will benefit substantially by having an independent, non-practising barrister [Keith Mason] overseeing the process."
The frantic ticking and crossing of boxed by about 600 "stake holders" has been refined to a much smaller group of about 21 worthies for each of the bar's practice areas.
All the judges are still expected to respond with either YES, NO or the tantalising NOT YET.
There was a slight glitch in the announcement of last year's successful applicants for silk.
A draft list of freshly minted silken ones was accidentally released. It did not contain all the successful applicants.
That was rectified shortly afterwards.
It is anticipated that the new silks for 2010 will be announced by the NSW bar in late September.