The Attorney General is seeking to appoint new members to three civil panels of junior counsel, the London A, B and C panels to undertake civil work for government departments.
Membership of the London panels is open to both barristers and solicitors with the appropriate qualifications.
London A Panel
Members of this panel deal with the most complex government cases in all kinds of courts and tribunals including the Supreme Court. They will often appear against KCs. Those previously appointed to the A panel have generally had in excess of 10 years’ advocacy experience in actual practice.
London B Panel
Members of this panel deal with substantial cases but not in general as complex as those handled by the A panel. They will generally be instructed where knowledge and experience of a particular field is required. Those previously appointed to the B panel have generally had between 5 and 10 years’ advocacy experience in actual practice.
London C Panel
Members of this panel will be expected to have at least two years’ experience in actual practice, from the end of 2nd six months’ pupillage for barristers or the end of training contract for solicitors. Those appointed to the C panel will often (but not exclusively) provide the A and B panel members of the future and so should have the potential to join the A panel.
In choosing which of the panels to apply to, candidates will want to make a careful decision based on which best suits their level of expertise and experience.
Appointments will be for five years.
As is the case every year, the Attorney General is looking for applicants with experience in general public, commercial and administrative law, and in immigration, employment or personal injury. For the 2026 exercise, the Attorney is also looking to deepen the capacity of the panels by appointing specialists in a variety of additional areas. See our ‘Information and FAQ’ link below.
The Attorney General is also looking to appoint applicants capable of advising departments on the interface of public and commercial law issues, and where criminal or regulatory issues arise in public law cases.
Application
To obtain details about the application process, we recommend reading our and our Candidate process document .
To make an application, please complete the Attorney General’s Civil Panel: London Competition 2026 form.
Completed applications must be submitted by midday on Tuesday, 7 April 2026.
We will be holding a live online information event to share more detail about the application process in London on Wednesday, 4 March 2026. For more information please see the .
If you would like to attend this event, please complete our London Online Information Event (Widening the Pool Event) registration form.
If you have any queries, please feel free to raise them in the first instance with the Government Legal Department Panel Counsel Secretariat via our Panel Counsel team.
