Black Letter Law Directory | 2015 | Legal History

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is a politician and lawyer. He trained as a lawyer in England and was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in July 1971 as well as the Ghanaian Bar in July 1975. Nana was one of the founding members of the centrist New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 1992 and was also the...

Syed Ameer Ali was appointed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1909, becoming the first Indian to sit as a Law Lord of the Privy Council in England. He was born in Cuttack, Orissa, India on 6 April 1849 and was one of five brothers.

Syed was educated at Hoogly College and...

Paul Boateng became the UK’s first black Cabinet Minister of African ancestry in May 2002, when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury under the Labour Party Government of Tony Blair. He became a peer...

Learie Nicholas Constantine has been described as a legend in his time and had a multi-dimensional career, including being a barrister and a professional cricketer. He made history in many areas, he became the first black Rector of the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 1968, was the first...

The Rt Hon Sir Desmond de Silva PC QC is a member of Argent's International Law team. He was the head of the chambers for nearly 25 years before deciding to solely concentrate on his legal...

George Edalji's family endured much racial intolerance in Great Wyrley, near Birmingham. His father was Indian and his mother Scottish - and in 1903, when he was a successful solicitor, he was the victim of a notorious miscarriage of justice. He was found guilty of a series of macabre incidents,...

Tunji Fahm MBE was the first black ethnic minority lawyer to be appointed as a Chief Officer of a local authority legal department in the UK. He arrived in Cardiff, South Wales, from Nigeria in October 1954.

Tunji attended He attended the Inns of Court School of Law in 1966 and was called...

Sunil Gadhia was the first person of Asian origin to attain the height of Chief Executive of a City law firm in 2003 and, at the age of 38, was also one of the youngest. Sunil rose from being a trainee at Stephenson Harwood in 1988, qualifying as a solicitor in 1990 and making partner in 1997...

Dr Frene Ginwala was the Speaker of the House in the South African parliament when the first democratic government, with Nelson Mandela as President, came into power in 1994 and she held the post until 2004. Frene was born in 1932 in Johannesburg. She was an active member of the African National...

Kim Hollis became the UK's first female Asian QC when she took silk in 2002, having been called to the Bar (Gray's Inn) in 1979. She was appointed as a Bencher of Gray's Inn in 2008. Kim is a barrister at 25 Bedford Row Chambers and specialises in criminal defence - including very serious violent...

According to Trevor James, the high point of his career, spanning more than 20 years, was 4 December 2008 when he became the London Managing Partner at the London office of leading US law firm Morrison and Foerster, one of the 30 largest law firms in the world.    

On...

Sibghat Kadri QC, Head of Chambers at 6 King's Bench Walk, was the joint founder (with Rudy Narayan) of the Society of Black Lawyers in 1973 and is a former BBC broadcaster. He is a leading authority on immigration and race relations and is the former Chairman of the Society of Afro-Asian and...

Sir Seretse Khama was born on 1 July 1921 in Serowe, a British Protectorate of Bechuanaland, and went on to become Botswana's first prime minister and the country's founding president. Seretse's father was the paramount chief of the Bamangwato people and his...

Sadiq Khan became the first Asian and first Muslim Cabinet Minister when he was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport in 2009. He was also only the second Muslim Privy Counsellor, the first one being Syed...