We are delighted to shine a spotlight on one of our newest Silks Ravi Aswani KC and explore his journey to achieving this incredible milestone in his career. Ravi recently shared some insights about his path to success:
What inspired you to pursue a career at the Bar?
From an early age, I became interested in the art of advocacy and the persuasive use of oratory. In addition, I was always interested in reading novels about lawyers and watching lawyers on TV. To Kill a Mockingbird had a particularly profound effect on me in my early teens. I did some research into the work of barristers (which at that time required going to a library and looking at hard copy books). It looked interesting and I thought I would give it a try. I have not looked back since.
Was there a particular mentor or colleague who significantly influenced your journey to becoming a becoming a barrister?
There are far too many to mention but perhaps I can single out my former headmaster Mr Crook who was probably the first to encourage me to pursue a career at the bar.
What career path do you think you might have pursued if you weren’t a barrister?
The romantic answer would be professional sportsman, but sadly I lacked and lack the talent for that! I was always interested in applied mathematics and physics at school (something which has several times come in handy when considering knotty naval architecture issues in salvage cases). So, a more realistic answer is I think a scientist.
What motivated you to apply for Silk?
I had for some time been missing out on work which I was qualified for, other than the fact that the client had a non-negotiable requirement to instruct a silk. My peers, and even people significantly more junior to me were beginning to take silk in significant numbers. Whilst it is not a race, nevertheless this prompted me to think more closely about my own practice and whether it was where it needed to be for a silk application. It was only when I started looking in more detail at my cases and constructing a draft portfolio of potential cases to use in an application that I realised that, de facto, I had been operating at silk level for some time, acting alone against silk opponents in a high proportion of my cases. I then decided that it was the right time!
What advice would you give to barristers considering applying for Silk status?
Start early! It is a draining and time consuming experience; leaving things late unnecessarily adds to the already significant stress and time demands. It can take several years from first deciding to apply to ending up with a portfolio of sufficiently substantial cases of the calibre required by the KCA for the application. It is important to have frank discussions with your clerks and keep them in the loop as to your aspirations.
I would also advise anyone considering applying to engage a consultant to help with the process, as early as possible. This is not cheap (the coaching can easily end up being more expensive than the application fee) but is undoubtedly money well spent. Whilst the formal position of the KCA is that it is not necessary to pay for expensive coaching in order to succeed, all I can say is that I have yet to come across anyone who has taken silk post the constitutional reforms of 2005 who has not engaged a coach.
What is a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?
My wife and I are long suffering Arsenal season ticket holders. But could this be the year of some silverware coming to the Emirates Stadium?
Further information
For more information from the stone team, contact clerks@36stone.co.uk
Involving Ravi Aswani KC
