Be more Silk-Like
Given that the King’s Counsel Panel “are looking for evidence of strong and consistent excellence across all of the competencies”, it’s surprising how many brilliant senior juniors doubt their own brilliance, or struggle to articulate it. This is particularly so when the panel guidance is clear: applicants “need to tell them not what you did but how you did it”. It’s the difference between describing the facts of your week – the days in court, what court, which judge etc – and articulating instead what you actually did. What was your impact on the case and how did you influence a certain outcome or result?
Pep Talk
It might just be that you need that little pep talk to know “you’ve got this” when it comes to applying, or to know where to come to guide you through that process. In this mini-blog series, Part 1 offers guidance on both the mindset and planning required to get to the stage of readiness to consider applying. Part 2 then gets to grips with the process itself – how to tackle the nuts and bolts of the form, understanding and evidencing the competencies, and articulating those successfully using the STAR framework, both on the form and indeed at interview.
Buckle up. There’s a lot to get through.
1. Mindset, Confidence and Resilience
Goal Focus
Whether you believe you’re not good enough, that applying would take up too much effort, or that you’d be embarrassed by perceived failure, it’s easy to convince yourself not to bother submitting an application. For example, it will doubtless cost you significant time and money. That’s when it pays to focus on the bigger goals. Think of the benefits to your and your practice from silk success, and why a mindset reframe may be necessary. For every example you provide in your application form, think about ending it with the phrase “…and that is why I am excellent” to start thinking and behaving like a KC. Be more silk-like.
You’ve Got This
Imagine that you CAN do it. Then figure out a way to do so. Do that even where it will inevitably involve both challenge and a degree of creativity on your part. This is particularly so in areas of law where certain of the competencies – like oral advocacy in personal injury cases – may be harder to come by. Consider the times where in the past you’ve not only met challenges head on but also overcome them. Think of ways you can either do similar again, or even do things differently, to better improve your chances of success.
Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is essential. The process takes a certain degree of pride and confidence in your practice. It pays to not only develop that but also resilience around feedback and perceived rejection. Be prepared for a journey of “learning” as opposed to “failure”. Not everyone makes the cut at first attempt. Should you receive feedback, be open to it. Don’t be crushed by it. Use it as learning for how to do things differently next time. Grow through, rather than be defeated by, the experience.
Building Resilience
I’ve seen otherwise very confident clients feel awkward or daunted about the prospect of having to contact potential assessors, particularly judicial ones. Work on your mindset around this too. Realise that many replies will be both supportive and encouraging. And for those that are not, the approach to adopt, once feedback has been taken on board, of course, should be “Onward!” or even “Next!”
2. Strategic Planning
Plan Ahead
It’s useful to think about taking silk early. This allows you to plan ahead. This is particularly so given it takes on average around 13 years to achieve silk, and anecdotally significantly longer in certain areas of law like personal injury. Better that than leaving things until you feel ready to apply – or that you “should” – creating a degree of pressure or time constraint around it. This can make the task in hand feel even more daunting.
Start with a 3 to 5 year plan, given you have to document 12 substantial cases from the preceding 3 years. Perhaps give yourself only 2 years if receiving some good signals from potential assessors, particularly judicial ones.
Have a Strategy
Be strategic about building the evidence you need to apply, to help you demonstrate you have a silk’s practice before actually applying. Be seen to be doing only good, high quality work. Better to have 15 cases in your back catalogue from which to choose your 12, rather than having only 8 and needing to scrabble around for 4 more “filler” cases.
Don’t Wait
Having said that, if you feel you have only a 60/70% silk practice, don’t wait. Provided you possess the essential ingredients – a recent collection of impressive cases through which you can demonstrate, and judicial assessors can comment on, your excellence – why wait? Consider this in the context of the law and leadership competencies, as opposed to cases necessarily having to be “big” or long, provided they have important consequences, precedential value, or present novel or unforeseen complexity, and demonstrate professionally stretch/ challenge.
3. Where to start?
Who to ask for help? Let’s start first with Clerks
Invite help, feedback and support from the outset, and on a “need to know” basis. Inevitably this will start with conversations with Clerks in practice development meetings around your goals and timelines for achieving those. Discuss what work exists in chambers which will get you to those goals. For example, how can you get to court more on cases which will provide useful advocacy opportunities? How will you demonstrate your excellence in legal analysis? What scenarios might allow you to lead another member of chambers? Identifying weak points early on can also be helpful to identify what support clerks need to provide in your practice to bolster any future application. Shore up those weak points.
Instructing Solicitors
Clerks may also have to work at helping you develop your practice in this way in conjunction with instructing solicitors. Ask those professional clients to assist. They can help in one of two ways. Firstly, by providing the right sort of cases you need to extend experience or plug gaps in it. Secondly, prime them to be potential practitioner assessors too.
Previously Successful Colleagues
Talk to colleagues who’ve previously been successful. Consider what you can learn from what they did. What steps did they take to succeed? Perhaps they will provide sight of a recent copy of their application form to help understand what’s involved and what good (or should I say, excellent…?) looks like.
Wider Network, Leaders and other Practitioner Assessors
Go to your wider network. This not only increases your professional visibility (perhaps through work on Circuit or in your practice area membership association), but you can also then invite support from those who lead you. Ask Leaders if you can take a particular legal submission or cross examination to elevate your experience. Keep in mind too that opponents will in time become your practitioner assessors.
External Assistance
Despite what the KC Panel may suggest, many other, recently successful, applicants recommend considering seeking external support. This could be from a mentor or a consultant/ coach. Collating a compelling application form is a very different task than the day job, so you may be glad of the help, encouragement and reassurance.
Judicial Assessors
Finally, don’t forget the all-important judicial assessors! Think about them, and put the feelers out, early on. You should do so even where you may feel reluctant, reticent even. I see many clients struggling with this mindset. Going back to the earlier points on mindset, get into the habit of asking for this kind of support early doors rather than suffering any embarrassment around it. Consider who has good evidence of you dealing with complex, challenging or significant work. Would they also be willing to support you? Build a relationship with those judges first, before pro-actively telling them of your ambition. Test the water before asking them to act as your assessor. Remember, you don’t need 12 assessors, but do need to get the right ones – those who know your work well and can/ will fill out the form in a way that tallies with your chosen cases.
4. Form Familiarity
Create a Silk File
Before leaving judicial and practitioner assessors, given the form focuses on “excellence in oral advocacy, ideally in a contested setting”, it’s worth thinking strategically about building a body of evidence for it. Start by creating a “Silk File”. Store there your notes on written advocacy, cross examination, legal submissions and the like.
Compile an Evidence Grid
Then begin to compile an Evidence Grid. Include all five competencies. Place your cases, and specifically the things you did within those cases, under each of the five headings. This will help you to identify any gaps, and where you might need to be focusing future work in those conversations with clerks and instructing solicitors. You might even need to consider making some significant changes to your practice to get more experience in certain areas. Don’t write off pro bono or lower paid Government work, for example, if it still provides the exposure to different areas of specialisms where necessary.
Match Assessors to Cases
Whilst going through that exercise, think about how you can match up your assessors with your substantive cases. This will help to more easily identify who you’ll need to contact, and concerning what particular case, or element of it. For example, you may wish to refresh a judge’s memory of your written advocacy in a particular case by providing them with your skeleton argument. You could also let a judge know, immediately at the end of a case, that you are considering applying for silk to give them a prompt to make a note of the case and any salient points in it whilst matters remain current.
Keep an updated log
Think of this competencies grid as a living document. Keep adding to it, like a log or diary, as your practice progresses. So much easier to remember the important points in the moment, rather than months or years later.
Download the Form
If you haven’t already got one, download a copy of the form from the KC Panel website if the competition is current/ live. This will help you know what you are dealing with. (At time of writing, application process is open NOW, deadline being 5pm 24th April 2026). Even have a go at completing certain parts of it where you are able, to get a feel for what’s required. When you do, don’t forget Diversity Action and Inclusion. I’m going to deal with the specific competencies in Part 2 of this Blog mini-series, but suffice to say, you’ll need to evidence on your form that you seriously walk your talk on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, as opposed to simply box tick.
Part 1 of this mini-series is intended to give you the impetus needed to get started. We’ll get into the details of the application process in Part 2 – the form, the competencies, and of course, the interview. See you again then.
For more information on the silk support available, download the free Applying for Silk resource available here: https://nikkialdersoncoaching.com/free-downloads/