Queen's Counsel
- noun
- /kwiːnz ˈkaʊnsl/
- UK
:
Consejero de la Reina
- FYI, Booth is her maiden name, which she uses when practicing as a QC (Queen's Counsel, i.e., senior barrister).
Examples
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In the courtroom, only a Queen's Counsel is permitted to represent certain high-profile cases.
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A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, he was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1978. Canada/U.S. Law Institute Conference on
Academic text (1995) -
Zero captured the frustrations and concerns of the people over the charges involved in the gun-running incident and the subsequent inquiry conducted at Blom-Cooper by the Queen's Counsel.
Academic text (1995) -
She felt honored to be appointed as a Queen's Counsel after many years of dedication to her practice.
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Being a Queen's Counsel means that you are recognized as one of the top legal experts in the country.
Synonyms
A senior lawyer appointed to represent the king or government in important cases
A senior lawyer appointed to advise the British monarch about law
Surface Forms
Morphology
Queen's + counsel
The phrase is compositionally clear — a B1 learner who knows 'queen' and 'counsel' will reasonably infer this refers to a lawyer associated with the monarch. However, the precise institutional meaning (a formal, senior appointment by the Crown rather than a personal lawyer) is a culture-specific nuance that is not fully predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Queen's Counsel comes from the idea of a lawyer who is the queen's counsel — literally the queen's chosen advisor in serious court cases. So today Queen's Counsel means a 'senior lawyer' officially chosen by the queen, and the name changes to 'King's Counsel' when the ruler is a king.
