The Brief:
NSW Bar names 20 new silks for 2026.
Women make up one in four of this year’s appointments.
NSW has 20 new silks, with NSW Bar Association president Dominic Toomey SC announcing this year’s senior counsel appointments.
Revealed on Friday afternoon, it’s the smallest cohort since 2022. With only five women, it’s also the least gender diverse since then.
The new silks
Of the 104 barristers who applied, 84 were men and 20 were women. 18% of male applicants and 25% of female applicants were successful, with 15 men and five women taking silk.
In order of barristerial experience:
Thomas Hughes (Trust Chambers)
Ian McLachlan (Forbes Chambers)
Iain Todd (Frederick Jordan Chambers)
Spiro Tzouganatos (Maurice Byers Chambers)
Donald Mitchell (Sixth Floor Selborne/Wentworth Chambers)
Jack Hynes (Nine Selborne Chambers)
Dilan Mahendra (Quay Chambers)
Greg O’Mahoney (New Chambers)
Conor Bannan (12 Wentworth Selborne Chambers)
Jnana Gumbert (Jack Shand Chambers)
Caspar Conde (New Chambers)
Lisa-Claire Hutchinson (Forbes Chambers)
Tamara Lynette Phillips (Sixth Floor Selborne/Wentworth Chambers)
Zoë Hillman (Omnia Chambers)
Daniel Krochmalik (Third Floor St James’ Hall)
Emma Beechey (New Chambers)
Slade Howell (Forbes Chambers)
Thomas O’Brien (Eleven Wentworth)
Matthew Karam (New Chambers)
Christopher Tran (Fifth Floor St James Hall)
The silk selection process has been the subject of public debate in the AFR this year, with some critics labelling it an opaque “private club”. The Australian Financial Review has also published data on how many times each candidate had previously applied, in some cases at least 10 times, as well as the number of new silks appointed by chambers since 2016.
There are now 396 NSW barristers holding silk, made up of 83.33% men and 16.67% women.
Women make up 28.90% of NSW barristers holding a practising certificate, compared with 71.10% who are men.
Source: NSW Bar