The weight of silk: what the honour means for the Inner Bar as an institution

Few moments at the Bar are more joyful and surreal than watching one’s former pupil take silk: pride, disbelief and the sudden realisation that someone you still instinctively think of as “junior” is now being bestowed with unmistakable senior seriousness. Last Saturday was, therefore, a sentimental moment for me as I watched my former pupil, Bonnie Cheng, being honoured with the new status at the ceremony. As the old saying goes, every barrister wants to take silk – until one does. The great...