Divorce lawyer Wilkinson wins; last year’s top hottie Patrick Hennessey down to fourth place; 17 new entrants to list of 21 ‘hotties’
1 Hare Court’s Nicholas Wilkinson has been crowned the ‘hottest barrister in London’ in the 2014 ‘Barrister Hottie’ list — released this morning.
Wilkinson, who did his pupillage in 2007 and specialises in family law, is described in the list as having “won the genetic and socioeconomic lottery”.
Of the Hare Court man, whose mum happens to be Lady Justice Hallet, the ‘Barrister Hottie Experts’ behind the rankings continue:
“He lives a life of glamour, tripping from rugby match to Caribbean bliss, a clutch of rangy blondes always at his heels.”
Wilkinson’s rise (he came third place in last year’s list) comes at the expense of 2013 winner Patrick Hennessey, a soldier turned barrister who practises from 39 Essex Street. Hennessey drops to fourth place. “Yes ladies and gentlemen, we have thrown aside GI Joe and picked up a Ken doll,” explain the Hottie Experts.
The ‘Barrister Hottie’ list is in its second year, having been dreamed up last summer by Barrister Hottie Experts Natalia Naish and Sonia Van Gilder Cooke (the duo have day jobs as, respectively, an art historian and a journalist) and launched through a Tumblr called ‘Your Barrister Boyfriend’. It went viral, having caught the attention of first Legal Cheek and then hitting the big time as it was picked up by The Telegraph and the Mail Online, amongst other publications. Like in 2013, the pair (pictured below) plan to follow up today’s male list with a female version later in the summer.
Aside from the fun of subverting expectations to rank barristers — traditionally revered for their intellect and gravitas — by looks, the main appeal of the hottie lists has been the amusing writing. The 2014 list maintains the high standard, with some great lines.
For example, poor Benjamin Faulkner of Wilberforce Chambers (a new entry at fifth place in the list) is brutally objectified as ‘The Body’. Over to the Hottie Experts:
“You know how back in the ’90s they used to call Elle Macpherson ‘The Body’? Well, the hottie experts are going to borrow that epithet for Mr. Faulkner… Benji likes to get his body out. And why not? If we were men and looked like Benji, we would walk around in a speedo all day long.”
The entry for Robert McAllister of 9 Gough Square (another newbie, coming in at sixth in the list) is another classic:
“Robert looks like he’s just stepped out of a time capsule from the 1970s with a George Best haircut and, hopefully, the footballers’ short shorts to match. We imagine snuggling with him by candlelight during the 1972 miners’ strike and complaining about inflation while living in a very cheap flat in north Kensington. With Robert we have found ourselves another Oxford boy, this time it’s Saint Peter’s College. As he is roughly in his mid-thirties, and as all these barristers are such terrible squares who rush to the altar like lemmings at 27, it is very unlikely that Robert is still eligible. But if by some miracle Robert hasn’t yet been scooped up by leggy, assiduous blonde, we call first dibs.”
Faulkner and McAllister are among 17 new entrants to the list. The others are:
Tunde Okewale of Doughty Street Chambers (2nd place)
George Davies of Temple Garden Chambers (3rd)
Andrew Wille of Farrar’s Building (7th)
James Williams of Henderson Chambers (8th)
Henry Ward of 8 New Square (9th)
Jamas Hodivala of 2 Bedford Row (10th)
William Tyzack of QEB (11th)
Philip King QC of 187 Fleet Street (12th)
Alex di Francesco of Lamb Building (13th)
George Spalton of 4 New Square (14th)
Charlie Sparling of Old Square Chambers (16th)
Paul Clark of Garden Court (17th)
Faraz Shibli of 10 King’s Bench Walk (18th)
Matthew Donmall One Crown Office Row (19th)
Anthony Vaughan Garden Court Chambers (20th)
Also retained from last year, in addition to Wilkinson and Hennessey, are 39 Essex Street’s Rory Dunlop and Fountain Court’s Derek Dale — although the latter’s new chambers profile photo sees him go from being described as “dangerous, brooding and smouldering” to “foppish and delicate, with beautiful, fine features and a slightly apologetic smile”.
The full 2014 Barrister Hottie List is here.