Gazette columnist Joshua Rozenberg and the former chair of the Law Society’s human rights committee Sara Chandler are among the eight honorary QCs appointed today in recognition of their contribution to the law outside courtrooms. 

Rozenberg, who is a non-practising solicitor, has been recommended for his work as the ‘pre-eminent legal analyst of modern times’. He is a freelance writer and broadcaster for publications including the Law Society Gazette.

He also presents the Law in Action on Radio 4 and has four published books.

Chandler (pictured), a housing solicitor and a visiting professor at London South Bank University, has been recommended for her work on pro bono and human rights.

She has been instrumental in developing the concept of clinical legal education, where students give pro bono advice to the public, under the guidance of qualified lawyers. She is a former chair of the Law Society’s human rights committee and has represented solicitors in the voluntary sector at the Law Society since 2002.

They are among six solicitors who have been awarded the honorary title.

Others include Professor Robert Blackburn, who is a professor of constitutional law at King's College, London. He has been recommended for his constitutional law work and in particular for his report on how a written constitution might work.

Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE, a partner at family firm Dawson Cornwell and a specialist in international children’s cases, was nominated partly due to her efforts to get countries to sign up to the Hague Convention.

Professor Ian Scott, from the University of Birmingham, has been recommended for his work editing the Civil Procedure Rules. He qualified as a solicitor and barrister in Victoria, Australia, before moving to the UK in the 1960s.

Professor Clive Walker, who qualified as a solicitor and is now a professor emeritus at the University of Leeds, has been recommended for his work as an adviser to the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and for his contribution to UK law on terrorism.