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Queen's Counsel

American  
Queen's Counsel British  

noun

  1. Also called (when the sovereign is male): King's Counsel.  (in England when the sovereign is female) a barrister or advocate appointed Counsel to the Crown on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, entitled to sit within the bar of the court and to wear a silk gown

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Queen's Counsel

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Finally, barristers and solicitors who have been appointed by the monarch to be Queen's Counsel will now be known as King's Counsel with immediate effect.

From BBC Sep. 9, 2022

Queen’s Counsel barrister Nick Vineall, representing the Maduro-backed central bank, said that rather than being “fatal” to his side’s case, the UK foreign secretary’s statement had instead supported it.

From Reuters Jul. 19, 2021

In the 1980s, she was appointed to the Law Commission, an independent body that scrutinizes laws in England and Wales, and became a Queen’s Counsel, a member of a select group of senior trial lawyers.

From New York Times Sep. 24, 2019

But Mullen was riled by the leading defense barristers, who were all Queen’s Counsel, the finest trial lawyers in Britain.

From The New Yorker May 20, 2019

During the same year he was appointed a Queen's Counsel.

From The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volumes 1 to 4 by Dent, John Charles

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