Irish speaking Derry lawyer appointed QC

Conall Patton became a Queen’s Counsel (QC) at a ceremony at Westminster Hall.

From an Irish speaking family - his parents are Kevin and the late Sarah Patton - Conall attended Bunscoil Cholm Cille before going to St Columb’s College where he excelled academically.

He took first place in Northern Ireland in three subjects at GCSE and also in three of his five A-levels.

He studied law at Cambridge, winning academic prizes in each year, and graduated with first class honours. He also completed diplomas with distinction in French and German.

He was awarded a prestigious Kennedy Memorial Trust Scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies at Harvard University in the USA.

On his return to London, he was awarded a scholarship by Gray’s Inn for Bar vocational training and, then, undertook pupillage at One Essex Court, the Chambers of Lord Tony Grabiner QC in the Temple, specialising in commercial law.

He was called to the Bar in 2004.

He soon became the junior barrister of choice representing a number of multi-national companies in complex cases.

In 2019, he was named as top junior barrister in his field by two awarding bodies.

Mr Patton was the youngest of this year’s cohort of new QCs.