Guidance

Attorney General's Civil Panel Counsel: appointments, membership lists and off panel counsel

Recruitment process, rates of pay, overview of the panel, lists of members and guidance for barristers who work ‘off panel’.

From:
Government Legal Department and Attorney General's Office
Published
1 November 2013
Last updated
617 March 2025 — See all updates

Overview

The Government Legal Department (GLD) administers the Attorney General’s Panel Counsel.

The Attorney General’s panels of counsel consists of just over 400 junior counsel who undertake civil and EU work for all government departments.

This guide explains how to apply to be on the panel counsel and which panel you would be advised to apply for. It also covers ‘work outside the panel’ which means working for the government but not as a member of panel counsel.

The role of the Law Officers

The Law Officers have overall responsibility for counsel instructed on behalf of government. They make appointments to the panels, and ensure that the operation of the panels is as effective as possible.

Panel counsel: structure

The Attorney General maintains panels of junior counsel to undertake civil and EU work for all government departments. These are in addition to any standing counsel and the First Treasury Counsel, James Eadie KC.

The panel system is made up of London Panels, Regional Panels and Public International Law Panels, each set up as follows:

A Panel – deals with the most complex government cases in all kinds of courts and tribunals. Members will often appear against KCs. In general, those appointed to the A panel will have over 10 years’ advocacy experience.

B Panel – deals with substantial cases but not in general as complex as those handled by the A panel. Members will generally be instructed where knowledge and experience of a particular field is required. B panel applicants will generally have between 5 and 10 years’ advocacy experience but those with more experience can also apply.

C Panel – members will generally have between 2 and 5 years’ advocacy experience but those with more experience can apply. Those appointed to the C panel will often (but not always) become the A and B panel members of the future and so will be expected to show the potential to join the A panel.

‘Advocacy experience’ means experience in actual practice usually from the end of second 6 months’ pupillage. Where a third 6 months’ pupillage is taken there will need to be a judgement as to the extent and quality of the advocacy undertaken during that period.

The size of each panel is determined by need.

All government departments and agencies of government departments must use the panels.

London panels (details of current counsel)

Appointments are for a period of 5 years.

Regional panels

Outside London and the South East there are 5 regions to which counsel belong: North East, North, Wales, Midlands and South West.

From 3 April 2018, the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Junior Counsel was restructured to align it with the other civil panels. Furthermore, following a recruitment exercise, a refresh of the Regional Panel saw changes to the membership.

As a result of the restructuring, within each region, the panel will be set up as follows:

Appointments are for a period of 5 years.

Public International Law (PIL) panel

The Attorney General established panels of junior counsel to undertake public international law on behalf of all government departments in order to supplement the work of the existing 3 London Panels. PIL Panel Counsel Public International Law Panel November 2024 (ODT, 27.3 KB) will undertake cases involving public international law in international courts and in the courts of England and Wales.

Appointments to the panel

Following recruitment in 2024, 8 Regional C Panel (ODT, 19.3 KB) were announced in February 2025.

The competitions to refresh the London ABC Panels 2025 have now closed and results will be sent to candidates in August 2025.

Forthcoming Competitions

We expect to open the next round of recruitment for London ABC in spring 2026 and Regional ABC in autumn 2026.

Membership is open to barristers and solicitors with Higher Rights of Audience. If you have any queries, please contact the Panel Counsel team PanelCounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk

Junior Counsel to the Treasury in Charity Matters

Jonathan Fowles of Serle Court Chambers was appointed Junior Counsel to the Treasury in Charity Matters on 4 September 2024.

Mentoring

As part of the Attorney General’s aim of encouraging as wide a selection of applicants as possible, potential applicants can use our mentoring service. Mentors will be established panel members who can discuss their panel experience, the application process, eligibility criteria and presentation of relevant information. For more details, please contact the Government Legal Department’s Panel Counsel team.

Rates

For details of rates see our practical information page.

Equality and diversity

The Attorney General operates an equal opportunities policy in relation to the civil panels. The assessment process emphasises the importance of making recommendations for appointment on the basis of demonstrable skills.

The Attorney General appoints the best candidates solely on merit, irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion/belief, sex (gender), and sexual orientation.

Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

The Panel Counsel Appointment process is carried out in accordance with the principles of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) which was created under the Equality Act 2010. Public authorities like the Government Legal Department are now required, in carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to achieve the objectives set out under s149 of the Equality Act 2010. The PSED came into force across Great Britain on 5 April 2011.

It means that public bodies have to consider all individuals when carrying out their day-to-day work in shaping policy, in delivering services and in relation to their own employees.

It also requires that public bodies have due regard to the need to:

  • eliminate discrimination
  • advance equality of opportunity
  • foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities

For more information on PSED please see GOV UK.

Privacy Notice

Please continue reading the Privacy Notice (ODT, 17.6 KB) to understand how GLD will process your personal data.

Areas of work

To ensure the panels can meet the needs of government there is a variety of work available - not just in public law. It is important that the panels contain counsel with various specialisms and counsel who are able to branch out into other areas of work if the need arises.

GLD encourages counsel to maintain both a public and private practice, this includes acting against government. It is beneficial to government if counsel have had experience of acting against government.

Although appointment to any panel cannot be a guarantee that work will be available, the intention is that each advocate appointed should be given at least a minimum amount of work.

Off panel work

The intention is that work should go to panel members but there are opportunities to do work ‘off panel’.

King’s Counsel (KC/silk)

GLD maintains a non-exhaustive list of King’s Counsel who have previously been instructed by departments or have expressed interest in receiving instructions. A nomination from the Law Officers is always required before a KC is instructed; a rate is always agreed in advance of a nomination being approved and usually ranges from between £180 - £250 per hour.

When seeking a nomination for a KC, the Attorney General will wish to be satisfied that the work cannot be done by A panel counsel. There is no requirement that any of the KCs put forward be on our list.

Being on our list of KCs does not guarantee any particular amount of work or indeed any work at all. However, being on the list does draw attention to a KC’s willingness to do government work.

Off panel juniors

A nomination is always required for an off panel junior. When off panel junior counsel are instructed they are paid at panel rates.

Junior juniors (formerly Baby barristers)

Junior juniors are very junior barristers who are within 4 years from end of pupillage and who are not yet panel members. They can assist on things like discovery exercises on large cases. They cannot do advocacy of any sort. A nomination from the Attorney General is not necessary.

The period of eligibility to undertake work has been extended from 2 years to 4 years from end of pupillage.

If you are interested in opportunities for Junior junior work, contact panelcounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk

For details of rates see our practical information page.

Standing counsel

Some departments appoint standing counsel. These are more senior advocates, akin to treasury counsel. As well as leading in some of the most difficult cases, their insight into the work of their department means they are also available as a source of expertise to panel counsel. In addition, they may provide training and strategic advice.

References

For more information on references see our practical information page.

Updates to this page

Published 1 November 2013
Last updated 617 March 2025 + show all updates

    3. Recruitment for London ABC 2025 closed

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