Hong Kong Law Society president seeks senior counsel status for solicitors

The professional body for solicitors has made a fresh call for its senior members to be given proper recognition by according them the status of senior counsel - a title which is currently only given to barristers.

Writing in the monthly publication of the Law Society, which has more than 8,000 solicitor members, president Stephen Hung Wan-shun expressed the hope that he could congratulate the first batch of solicitors becoming senior counsel later this year.

"A lot of our senior members have already had more than the experience needed to become [senior counsel]," Hung wrote.

"It will be a positive development if these senior members of the solicitors' branch of the profession could be given the proper recognition that they deserve."

Hung added yesterday that he had discussed the issue with the judiciary, but admitted that it remained a preliminary idea and there was no timetable for implementation.

The chief justice currently appoints barristers as senior counsel if they have sufficient ability and standing, as well as enough knowledge of the law and experience. Senior counsel can charge substantially more than other lawyers for their services.

As of last month, there were 1,275 barristers in private practice, but only 93 of them were senior counsel.