TOP government prosecutor Mr Clive Grossman and one of Hongkong's first locally-trained lawyers, Mr Kenneth Kwok, were appointed Queen's Counsels yesterday - a day earlier than Maundy Thursday, when new silks are traditionally announced.
Others made QCs were Ms Audrey Eu, Mr Geoffrey Ma, Mr Gary Plowman and Mr Gary Alderdice. A ceremony to call within the Bar the six new silks will be held on April 17.
Ms Eu is only the third female Queen's Counsel in Hongkong. The chairman of the Bar Association, Miss Jacqueline Leong, and Ms Gladys Li made legal history in the territory when they became Queen's Counsels in 1990.
Ms Eu, 39, has been in practice since 1978. Her work deals mainly with common law, chancery and commercial. She has sat for brief periods as a deputy district judge.
Mr Grossman, 53, was admitted to the Bar in 1967, in Rhodesia, where he practised until 1980.
He joined the Legal Department, specialising in commercial crime. He now heads the Commercial Crime Unit of the Prosecutions Division as a deputy crown prosecutor.
Mr Kwok, 43, graduated from Hongkong University and in 1974 became the first locally trained lawyer to be called to the local Bar.