Taking stock of silk

The fact that solicitors did without a title for so long suggests it might be unnecessary in a market economyAs advocates in England and Wales prepare for their Easter holidays, some will be more anxious than others.

This is the historic week when the tailors at Ede & Ravenscroft bring out their measuring tapes in expectation of running up about 70 more silk gowns.Since Elizabethan times, Maundy Thursday has been the time for appointing Queens (or Kings) Counsel.

But now the historic title is under threat.

The Office for Fair Tradings recent report into the legal profession painted silk as restricting competition and inflating fees.The Law Society has withdrawn from the appointments consultation process, criticising it as acting more as a quota system than an accurate test of quality.Solicitors seem ambivalent about the title now open to them.

Only four bear the initials (one of whom was an experienced barrister before transferring) and only six applied last year.

That solicitors did without a title for so long suggests it might be unnecessary in a market economy.If the title QC is to survive long enough for it to revert back to KC, serious reform needs to be considered.

One crucial point would be whether the quality mark system should be left with the Lord Chancellor and funded by the taxpayer or handed over to the professional bodies.