Usman Tariq KC

On 23rd September 2024, at the opening of the legal year in the Court of Session, I had the honour of being welcomed to the rank and dignity of King’s Counsel.

The rank of King’s Counsel was first conferred in Scotland in 1868. The appointment now is made by His Majesty The King on the recommendation of the first minister, who seeks nominations for that purpose from the lord justice general. The rank of King’s Counsel is generally reserved for those who have distinguished themselves in practice in the Supreme Courts.

My appointment as King’s Counsel is the culmination of an immensely fulfilling career at the Scottish bar. I have had the privilege of arguing cases in the senior courts. I specialise in commercial litigation, particularly in the field of intellectual property law. I have been a full-time advocate depute prosecuting serious crime in the High Court. I have been a standing junior counsel to the UK government for many years advising and representing government departments in the Scottish courts. I am appointed as counsel to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry and involved in the investigation of high-level political decision-making during the pandemic in the UK.

I have always been keen to contribute to the wider legal profession. In 2017, I co-founded the Scottish Ethnic Minorities Lawyers’ Association (SEMLA) because I was keen to help others from under-represented backgrounds access the profession. SEMLA has hosted events, undertaken outreach work at universities, and organised work placements for students from minority ethnic backgrounds. I have presented at ministerial roundtables in the Scottish Parliament on diversity in the legal profession. I am a member of the Scottish government’s Future of the Legal Profession Short-Life Working Group. I was a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Racial Inclusion Group which produced a report with recommendations for the profession to improve racial inclusion. My experiences in the profession have been overwhelmingly positive and I am invested in ensuring that the profession attracts the brightest and best from all backgrounds.

I am also interested in the wider public good. In 2022, I was honoured to be invited by the U.S. State Department to participate in the International Visitor’s Leadership Program, its premier professional exchange programme. I spent time in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Portland and Montana meeting with various federal and state governmental bodies, NGOs and stakeholders in a human rights project on Advancing Minority Rights in Europe.

Also in 2022, I was appointed to the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland (YAS). This has been a wonderful opportunity for me to work outside of my legal bubble with other professionals and academics for the benefit of Scotland. My appointment to YAS was particularly poignant for me. I had the opportunity to work closely with the late Stephen O’Rourke QC, a member of YAS, before his untimely death in December 2021. Stephen would have been delighted to know that I had followed in his footsteps to become a member of YAS.

But a lengthy curriculum vitae does not reveal everything. I come from a Scottish-Pakistani background. My grandfather came to Glasgow in 1962. He was an economic migrant. My grandfather worked on the buses. My father joined him in Glasgow at the age of 12 in 1967. When my father was 16 years old, he left school to start work. Further education was not an option for him. He was good at business. This created opportunities for me. The importance of an education and a professional career was drilled into me from an early age. When I started my journey into law, I did not know any lawyers. I did not have any insight into the legal profession. However, I was fortunate to be able to figure out my path into the profession. Many others are not so fortunate.

It is imperative that the legal profession continues its push for greater equality, diversity and inclusion. This matters.

First, it is simply unjust that people should have fewer opportunities in their careers and in life because of their gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background or any of the protected characteristics.

Second, if the most important jobs are in reality open to only a small segment of the population, it is statistically inevitable that many of those top jobs do not go to the best people, which must be to the economic, cultural and social disadvantage of our country.

Third, the legal profession should reflect the diversity of society as a whole. Lawyers drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences will bring varying perspectives to bear on legal issues. A profession and judiciary which is visibly more reflective of society will enhance public confidence in the law. Society will flourish if everyone feels included.

Some people view diversity as the enemy of merit. I disagree. If you recruit from a wider pool of talent, the chances are that you will recruit better people. Diversity reinforces merit.

Times are changing. And the legal profession is changing for the better. In 2023, at least 67 per cent of the solicitor population in Scotland is state-educated. Almost 57 per cent of solicitors are female. At least four per cent of the profession is from a minority ethnic background, but this increases to 10 per cent of all solicitors aged 30 and under. At least four per cent of the profession is LGBTQ+ but this increases to almost seven per cent of all solicitors aged 30 and under. At least six per cent of the profession has a disability, such as blindness, deafness or a mobility impairment.

However, there remain significant challenges. This is most visibly the under-representation of women and those from a minority ethnic background at the top of the legal profession. Marian Wright Edelman, an American activist for the rights of children, said: “You can’t be what you can’t see.” She believed that children are less likely to be inspired for their future if they do not have visible role models. I believe that is right. I genuinely hope that my appointment as King’s Counsel in its own way encourages others at the start of their journeys in law to be ambitious and aim for the top.

This article first appeared on the RSE Young Academy of Scotland website