ABSTRACT
During the 1870s Gorst’s practice at the Bar began to gather some momentum. In the summer of 1875 he took silk, just ten years after call, and from then onwards for some years he kept his two careers, those of barrister and politician, running in parallel with tolerable success. It is difficult to assess whether becoming a QC helped or hindered his practice. It is often argued that a busy junior counsel can make more money than a run of the mill QC, who is always obliged to have a junior with him. In summing up Gorst’s legal career at that time, the Dictionary of National Biography states that ‘he consolidated his reputation as a lawyer of note’.
