“Preparation, preparation, preparation”: how Imran Khan became a KC

Why I became a solicitor advocate

I’ve been doing advocacy ever since I started training.

I took every opportunity, partly to control what was being said and partly for experience. If you do something over and over, you’ll become better and better at it.

It produced a skill which I think every lawyer should have. I find it very difficult to say you’re a lawyer without having advocacy as part of your arsenal.

I started doing advocacy in the youth court

It was partly because nobody else was doing it, but also because the public weren’t allowed in, so I could look like a fool without anybody knowing. I became a bit of an expert.

The clerk to the magistrate often said to me, “What legal argument have you got today, Mr Khan? What are you going to take us to the High Court for?”

It became a running joke that I would challenge them, because it was an area that was completely ignored by the local solicitors.

There was a time where solicitor advocates were seen as second-class advocates by judges. I remember thinking I had to prove myself.

I was mixing with Oxbridge-educated barristers, but I went to state school and I was a different colour to them. I already knew I had to be better.

Preparation, preparation, preparation

So, I would go into every case more prepared than everyone in that courtroom. It meant I was noticed by judges.

I remember being in courtrooms with silks everywhere and, every so often, I would take a judge by surprise.

When people ask me, “How do you do that?”, I tell them what gets you through is “preparation, preparation, preparation”.

Becoming an advocate was really important to me. I wanted to be the one in control of the case and rely on myself to argue it.

I remember at the beginning of my career, barristers would say, “I can’t go to that meeting and speak to the client and explain the case”, so they sent me, because they knew I could.

I never wanted to be one step removed. Plus, I love the sound of my own voice too much!

I also got on well with judges – they seemed to respect me. I remember a senior judge telling me I was completely different to what he expected.

I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not, and I suspect I have a particular reputation.

If they perceive me as difficult, I class it as passionate. If they see me as inflexible, I see it as sticking to my principles.

I’m very passionate about things I believe in, so often people see that as being a bit difficult.

Applying for King’s counsel

I never intended to apply for King’s counsel. I’m a republican, anti-monarchy and in favour of abolishing the House of Lords (although I did go with Doreen Lawrence to get her OBE).

I believe in democratic process and, to be honest, I was already doing good work. I didn’t think I needed to be a KC.

When a colleague suggested that I apply for silk (King’s counsel), I wasn’t interested. I was already in court every day, doing the work I enjoyed.

But I began to consider it, particularly when people in the community were telling me, “What you say is important and when you get the letters after your name, it will seem more important.”

People who became silks told me as soon as they got those letters, they were treated differently. And I think it’s true. When you get those two letters after your name, you earn more respect.

When you’re referred to as a silk, people listen. That was important to me, to advance the causes and cases I’m involved in. Whether it’s done so, I can’t tell. But you do get respect from colleagues.

Judges also changed – not to a dramatic degree, probably partly because they knew me before I came to court. That can be a good thing, but it can also be a hindrance, because people have new expectations.

So, I applied for silk, and I genuinely thought I wouldn’t get it.

Completing the application

The process of applying was demanding – both in terms of the length of the form and the fact that you’re limited to a certain number of characters for each answer.

I thought I would fail at the first hurdle because they wanted evidence of cases from the last two years. I didn’t have that, because solicitors don’t go to court all the time.

I think I had to go back five years.

Asking for judicial references

I was terrified of asking judges what they thought of me. I went to a judge at the Old Bailey who wasn’t sitting and asked them if I should apply.

Luckily, they said yes. I think that was a real eye-opener. That same judge wrote to me when I got silk and said, “continue to be a pain in the backside”.

I’ll treasure what that judge said because it was a seal of approval that I was doing the right thing.

You don’t want judges to think you’re a troublemaker for the sake of it – you want them to think you’re doing it for a reason.

Acing the interview

I got through the first round and got an interview, which was very surprising. I don’t think I’d ever been interviewed for a job before in my life.

I know that barristers have people who train them for interviews. One of my barrister friends tested me on the day of the interview and she said I was an absolute disaster.

I had the interview later that day and came out thinking it wasn’t that bad. When I got the email to say that I was successful, I was ecstatic. It was absolutely phenomenal.

Advice from a KC

You don’t need the exact experience to apply, you just need to explain why you don’t have it.

Whatever you do, just demonstrate excellence – whether it’s as an advocate or not.

Solicitors also often miss the oral advocacy experience. I would advise solicitors applying to do it as much as they can.

You have to think on your feet and it’s difficult, but it’s a phenomenal skill and the sooner you get it, the better.