The Rochdale QC breaking down barriers

Imran Shafi, who grew up in Rochdale, was appointed as Queen’s Counsel (QC) on Monday 15 March.

Imran attended his local comprehensive school Greenhill High (now Falinge Park) and was the first member of his immediate family to go to university.

As a child, his father worked as a bus conductor, while his mother was a machinist. Imran said: “I never thought about a career in law when I was growing up; I came from a working-class background.

“Law was something for white, middle-class men who went to private school.”

Following university and taking the bar where, like all aspiring barristers, he found the huge cost of training tough, Imran successfully navigated the fiercely competitive pupillage process to secure a place at a London chambers.  His heart, however, was set on returning north.

On moving back to Manchester, he spent ten years at a city-centre chambers before briefly moving to Leeds and then onto Exchange Chambers in Manchester ten years ago.

Imran initially specialised in immigration and crime, but since joining Exchange has focused exclusively on heavyweight criminal defence.

Ranked as a leading practitioner by The Legal 500, Imran is praised for his 'encyclopaedic knowledge which he deploys for the very great benefit of his clients'.

Several of his cases are listed as authorities in two leading criminal law textbooks, Archbold and Blackstone’s.

Imran said he is "grateful to his fellow members at Exchange for their advice and guidance over the last decade" and is “relishing the responsibility of being a silk.”

Moving forward, he is planning to further develop his publicly funded criminal practice, while increasing his privately funded work.

As a new silk, Imran believes he has a responsibility to help people from all backgrounds to pursue their ambitions at the bar, by acting as a mentor and tackling the profession’s challenges head on.

He is particularly concerned about the impact of legal aid cuts and rising training costs on the justice system, agreeing with the Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association when she says that the system is 'on its knees and needs help'.

Imran, who became a Recorder in 2020 and also sits on Exchange Chambers’ main board, continued: “We have had years of savage cuts to publicly-funded work.

“The viability of a career at the publicly funded criminal bar is under threat. Those from less-privileged backgrounds will be unable to enter the profession and this will impact on the diversity of the judiciary.”

Imran also believes that the Covid-19 pandemic poses a serious threat to the diversity of the bar.

Latest statistics show that barristers from ethnic minority or mixed backgrounds are disproportionately affected: around one half (48%) are currently experiencing financial hardship and 72% have at some point during the pandemic.

He says he is 'disappointed but not surprised' by a recent report from the Bar Standards Board that found barristers from Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic groups (BAME) are likely to earn less than white barristers.

“There is a long way to go before the bar is fully representative of the people it serves,” he added.  “Racial undertones, stereotypes and attitudes still exist but the tide is beginning to turn.”

Imran believes the death of George Floyd and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement has 'turbo-charged' the bar’s diversity drive and there is 'no turning back'.

He concluded: “People’s perceptions that a barrister is a white middle-class man are steadily beginning to change.

“We all flourish in an environment that promotes diversity, equality and inclusion.”

QCs are barristers or solicitor advocates who have been recognised for excellence in advocacy. QCs are often seen as leaders in their area of law and generally take on more complex cases that require a higher level of legal expertise.

QC appointments are made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC, MP, following consideration by the independent Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel.