Queen's Counsel

American  

noun

1. King's Counsel.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of Queen's Counsel

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Queen's Counsel

Barristers are updating their business cards from Queen’s Counsel to King’s, but no one needs a fresh appointment at the bar.

From New York Times ● Oct. 9, 2022

Nneka Akudolu was told she had little chance of becoming a barrister after getting pregnant in her second year of university, now she's a Queen's Counsel recognised for her excellence.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 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

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

On the 28th of November, 1850, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel by the Baldwin-Lafontaine Government, contemporaneously with the present Judges Hagarty and Gwynne, and with the late Judge Connor and Chancellor Vankoughnet.

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