The Legal Services Regulatory Authority is now accepting applications for Senior Counsel

Applications are now open for solicitors and barristers to apply to the Advisory Committee of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) on Patents of Precedence to use the title of Senior Counsel.

Legal practitioners may apply to be granted a Patent of Precedence under Section 174 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. A grant of a Patent of Precedence allows a solicitor or barrister to use the title of Senior Counsel.

The Advisory Committee was established under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 on 2 April 2020 and held its first meeting on 23 June 2020.

It has established the criteria – as set out in the objectives in section 173(2) of the Act – to be met by a legal practitioner in order for a recommendation to be made by the Advisory Committee to the Government that a Patent of Precedence be granted to him or her.

The grant of a Patent of Precedence in relation to a barrister entitles him or her to be called to the Inner Bar and to use the title of Senior Counsel; in relation to a solicitor, it entitles him or her to use the title of Senior Counsel.

The Advisory Committee consists of:

• The Chief Justice (Chairperson of the Committee),
• The President of the Court of Appeal,
• The President of the High Court,
• The Attorney General,
• The Chairperson of the Bar Council,
• The President of the Law Society and
• Dr Don Thornhill, a lay member of the Authority (and its chair) nominated by the Minister for Justice and Equality.

The closing date for applications is 5 pm on 24 July 2020.

Further details and the application form can be viewed on the LSRA website here.