IPIM member James St Ville to take silk

We are delighted to announce that James St Ville, a member of our IP Inclusive Management (IPIM) team, has been appointed a Queen’s Counsel. His appointment was announced on 22 December 2021. He will be sworn in at a formal ceremony on 21 March 2022.

James St Ville

James, an IP barrister at 8 New Square, has long been a champion of diversity and inclusion and has been involved with IP Inclusive since 2019, joining IPIM in February 2020. At St John’s College Cambridge, where he studied Electrical and Information Sciences and Engineering, he was a founder of the college Fund for South African Education and active in the early work of the Cambridge University Group to Encourage Ethnic Minority Applications (GEEMA). He has acted as a mentor for would-be engineers and lawyers as part of the City & Islington College “Mentor Programme”, helping Black sixth-form students with the self-confidence, motivation and skills to go on to higher education and a wide range of careers. He has also been a board member of Clod Ensemble theatre and dance company since 2009 and, since 2018, chair of the trustees of the Alfred Fagon Award, the UK’s leading award for Black playwrights of Caribbean and African descent.

IPIM Chair, Michael Silverleaf QC, said of James’s appointment:

James has been a valued friend and colleague, as well as a doughty opponent of mine for many years. I am delighted to see his qualities as an advocate and adviser recognised in his appointment as a Queen’s Counsel. I wish him every success in his new role. The IP Bar is fully committed to the continuing success of IP Inclusive and I look forward to working with James and the other members of IPIM to achieve that end.

QCs are appointed through an annual competition. The appointments are made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, following consideration by an independent Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel. The 2021 competition yielded progress on the diversity front: among those appointed, the proportion of women – 45% – exceeded the proportion of women in the relevant segment of the profession and the proportion of applicants from a minority ethnic background was also broadly equal to the proportion of minority ethnic advocates in the relevant segment of the profession. There were, however, still disappointingly few applicants from Black African or Black Caribbean backgrounds, so it is good to see James providing such a powerful role model for more junior IP barristers.

Visit the QC Appointments website to view the December 2021 press release and the full list of recommended applicants.

You can read more about James St Ville and his role in IPIM here.