King's Counsel

English Etymology king's + counsel Noun en noun King's Counsel plural King's Counsel or King's Counsels abbreviation KC en UK Canada New Zealand occasionally Australia An honorific status officially conferred on senior or meritorious barristers (and occasionally other kinds of lawyer) during the reign of a king. en w:Robert Rhodes James ‘A Morbid Misery’ Henry Wellcome London w:Hodder & Stoughton 1994 292 https://archive.org/details/henrywellcome0000jame/page/292/mode/1up 0-340-60617-7 When the case eventually came to court in December 1903, Wellcome’s team, headed by Moulton, contained three King’s Counsel; they had marshalled seventy-two witnesses and intimated that they could produce as many again. en w:Martin Vander Weyer [Misfeasance] Wilful Neglect? Fortune’s Spear: The Story of the Blue-Blooded Rogue Behind the Most Notorious City Scandal of the 1920s London Elliott and Thompson Limited 2011 256 https://archive.org/details/fortunesspear0000vand/page/256/mode/1up 978-1-907642-31-9 Arrayed in front of him was a very expensive line-up of London’s best legal brains. Each director had his own team of two, and in some cases three, defence barristers. Including two King’s Counsels who represented the Official Receiver, there were a dozen silks in court. en UK historic A barrister or advocate appointed by the Crown during the reign of a king. Usage notes During the reign of a queen, the position is styled en Queen's Counsel (QC). Related terms Senior Counsel take silk Translations a barrister Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 御用大律師 yùyòng dàlǜshī German: de Kronanwalt m, de Kronanwältin f Volapük: of the crown ♂♀ vo kronalavogan, ♂ vo kronahilavogan, ♀ vo kronajilavogan an honorific status French: fr conseiller du Roi