[Sulfolobus]

Queen's counsel.

Expensive top flight barristers* with lots of experience (10-15 years minimum) that are recommended and appointed QC by the Lord Chancellor. They take precedence over other barristers and tend to be very expensive, experienced and with a proven case history and reputation. You can tell them because they get to wear silk gowns (sometimes being elected is known as "taking the silk")

Kinda the barrister equivalent of being elected to the National Academy of Sciences or a Fellow of the Royal Society.

* Barristers are one of two types of lawyers in the UK (the other being solicitors) they do most of the court-room advocacy etc.