Stumbling-block on the silk road This year's round of Queen's Counsel appointments, announced by the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) last week, will have done little to persuade detractors of the system that silk represents anything more than old-fashioned patronage.

Indeed, the reaction from the Law Society President, Robert Sayer, that silk 'is a perk for barristers', will strike a chord with many lawyers and lay people alike.The facts are striking.

The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 allowed solicitors to be awarded the title of QC in more than a purely honorary fashion.

It took seven years for the first solicitors to reach that level - Lawrence Collins of City firm Herbert Smith and Arthur Marriott of the London office of US firm Debevoise & Plimpton.

A year later, David Mackie of City firm Allen & Overy was awarded the silk robe and last year Brussels-based Mark Clough of Ashurst Morris Crisp also joined the QC ranks, after having spent most of his career at the Bar.And that is it.

This year, there was not one solicitor on the list of 78 new QCs, although six applied.

Cynics might suggest that the Law Society's call for more transparency in the appointments system and its subsequent withdrawal from the 'secret soundings' used to appoint judges and QCs might have affected Lord Irvine's thinking.

It is to be hoped that this is not the case.

But it is difficult to know for certain, as LCD officials refuse to comment on the grounds that the appointments are made by the Queen.If silk denotes seniority in the whole profession, a clear appointments system is vital.

This year's silk round has justified the Society's decision to distance itself from what is becoming seen as a discredited status symbol.