Legal Cheek reports on another great advance that will hopefully just be standard from now on
A new tenant at Lamb Chambers is thought to be the first barrister to be listed as “Mx” rather than “Ms” or “Mr”.
Oscar Davies took to Twitter on Friday to celebrate landing tenancy at the central London set, and included a snap of the updated name board out front. In line with the rest of the tenants, Davies’s name is prefixed by an honorific — but one that doesn’t specific a gender.
It’s official, I am now a tenant! Question for #legaltwitter – is this the first Mx on a chambers’ wooden board? pic.twitter.com/50yGGa8ZyE
— Oscar Davies (@Oscar_Davies_) March 5, 2021
It’s thought to be the first use of Mx (pronounced “mix”) in that highly traditional setting. Davies, who identifies as non-binary, says chambers didn’t make a big deal about it and they’ve been “pleasantly surprised” by the responses to their little wooden piece of legal history.
“I just wanted to use the term that I felt most comfortable with”, Davies told Legal Cheek. “I suppose I was aware that Mx may not have been put on a wooden board before, but luckily the conversation was very straightforward and I’m grateful to chambers for not making it difficult at all”.
Source: Legal Cheek
Oscar’s Bio at Lamb Chambers
Having completed pupillage at a leading civil set, Oscar has gained experience in a broad range of matters, including employment law, personal injury and clinical negligence, public and international law, and commercial and pensions law. Oscar is also a member of the Attorney General’s Junior scheme.
Prior to commencing pupillage, Oscar worked in Luxembourg at the European Court of Justice as a trainee/stagiaire to Judge Christopher Vajda, with the assistance of the Sir Joseph Priestley Award from Inner Temple.
Further information
Qualifications
- BPTC LLM (Very Competent) – City, University of London
- GDL (Commendation) – City, University of London
- French and History BA (First Class Honours with Distinction in spoken French) – King’s College London, with an exchange in Paris at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, and in Quebec at the Université Laval.
Scholarships and Prizes
- Sir Joseph Priestley Award (2018), Inner Temple
- Daniel Lett Scholarship, awarded in 2016 and 2017 for GDL and BPTC years, Christ’s Hospital
- John Taylor Book Prize (2014), King’s College London
Languages
- French (fluent)
Pro Bono
Oscar provides advice and representation pro bono via Advocate, the Bar’s national charity that helps members of public find free legal help from barristers.
Oscar is committed to enabling social mobility at the bar, and is involved in FreeBar, an organisation which aims to promote diversity and inclusivity of LGBT+ members and staff at the Bar.
Memberships
- ELBA
- FreeBar
News & Resources
Standard of proof in inquests: R (on the application of Maughan) v HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire [2020] UKSC 46
26th November 2020
