The call of silk

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.