The London barrister scene gets a touch of the Hollywood treatment as new Tumblr site ‘YourBarristerBoyfriend’ ranks ‘The 21 Hottest Barristers in London’, the London Evening Standard reports.

Number one

The bar has seen Patrick Hennessey of 39 Essex Street proclaimed the most attractive male barrister in London. Mr Hennessey, called to the bar in 2010, said: ‘Most unusually for a barrister, I’m speechless. It’s a tremendous honour and very reassuring to know that if the current misconceived and ham-fisted attempts at reform end up breaking the justice system altogether some of us at least have a sporting chance in an even older profession.’

Self-proclaimed 'experts'

‘Brought to you by the Barrister Hottie Experts,’ the site gives its own commentary on each barrister ranked. Of Barrister Number One the experts said: ‘It’s as if, from birth, he deliberately planned every step of his life in order to sit atop the Barrister Hottie list. The media is into him, and we imagine all the other barristers hate him. Unfortunately, we learn that he is recently married. This is a true tragedy for woman kind!!’

Enthusiastic reception

According to The Lawyer the founders of the Tumblr site are two American women living in London who have been granted anonymity. ‘There were a lot of nominations, some were from chambers, like a group of women within chambers who got together and decided to nominate. We promised everyone anonymity but lots of chambers got in touch saying that we had overlooked their men,’ said one of the ‘Barrister Hottie Experts’.

Female ‘hottie list’

After the male ‘hottie list’ received such a positive reception, the pair has recently published a female barrister equivalent, despite reservations regarding the constant appearance-based judging that women face, declaring on their Tumblr site that ‘avoiding women would just be too easy – and perhaps even sexist [...] we don’t like the idea that women barristers, unlike men, are not powerful enough to withstand a hottie list.’

Top girl

Ranked in the top spot for ‘The 21 Hottest Barristers in London: the Women’ is the proclaimed ‘breathtakingly beautiful and formidably successful’ Amal Alamuddin from Doughty Street, whose description on the list reads ‘Amo, Amas, Amal. These are three short words that come to mind when thinking about this dazzling beauty.’ According to the ‘hottie experts,’ Ms Alamuddin ‘has achieved the seemingly unattainable ideal of contemporary femininity.’