We invite you to look back over our achievements and highlights in 2023 with our Annual Review.
While this past year has been one of continued progress and success for 12KBW it has also been one of sadness and loss. The late Ronald Walker KC, my first Head of Chambers who offered me tenancy at 12KBW in 1993, and had then been in silk for ten years, passed away in September after a simply astonishing 40 years as a leading silk and a pioneer of the specialist PI Bar. We miss Ronnie but will never forget him.
We began the year, however, with the excitement of another new silk in Andrew Roy KC. Andy leads our Pupillage Committee whose work is pivotal to our continuing ability to attract the brightest and most diverse range of talent.
For the second year running we offered tenancy to all three of our pupils – Rebecca Henshaw-Keene, Jake Loomes and Corinne Novell – and our organic growth continues at more senior levels. Annahita Moradi (Inquiries and Inquests) joined us this month and Navjot Atwal (International Travel) joined us in January.
Our most recent mini-pupillage round (which we run quarterly) attracted 102 applicants of such high quality that we offered places to all those scoring 24 or 25 out of 25 which meant offering 11 mini-pupillages rather than our usual 5 or 6.
We were nominated for a wide array of awards both collectively (D&I, Client Service, PI Set of the Year) and individually PI Silk (multiple nominations), Employment Junior, and Clerk of the Year and John-Paul Swoboda won the L500 PI Junior of the Year Award.
In the post-Covid world our ethos at 12KBW is very much of personal contact with each other and with all our clients. A large proportion of members are regularly in chambers, and we continue to prioritise in person events around the country. We held 11 in-person seminars this year in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol – not including 26 in-house training days with clients all over the country – and were delighted to host some 250 clients at Middle Temple Hall for our Annual Conference.
On behalf of all members of chambers I would like to thank our clients and also our loyal and dedicated staff for your continued support. We wish you all the very best for the New Year.
William Audland KC, Head of Chambers
