We are delighted to announce that Leslie Thomas QC, Chair and Joint Head of Garden Court Chambers, has been appointed as a new Board member by the Bar Standards Board (BSB). Irena Sabic, also of Garden Court Chambers, is an existing Board member of the Bar Standards Board.
Following these appointments, the Board of the Bar Standard Board will be made up of 15 people: seven barristers, seven lay members and a lay Chair. The new appointments will help the regulator ensure that its Board maintains the range of skills, experience and perspectives that it needs to undertake its independent regulation in the public interest.
The BSB’s mission is to regulate barristers and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales.
Leslie Thomas QC was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2014. He is a leading expert in claims against the police and other public authorities, and claims against corporate bodies, with expertise across the full spectrum of civil wrongs, civil litigation, human rights, data and privacy claims. He is also an expert in all aspects of inquests and public inquiries.
Leslie is currently an independent member on the Standards Committee for public life for Lewisham Council. In 2016, Leslie (with the Hillsborough Inquests lawyers) won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards (LALY) for his work on the Hillsborough inquests and in 2017 he won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK Diversity Legal Awards.
Leslie Thomas QC was appointed from a field of strong candidates by a panel chaired by Baroness Tessa Blackstone.
Chair of the BSB, Baroness Tessa Blackstone said:
"Leslie will bring extensive skills and knowledge and some valuable new perspectives to the existing Board."
Leslie Thomas QC will take up his appointment from 1 June 2019.
