A prominent Newcastle solicitor has been named on the annual Honorary Queens Counsel (QC) list.
Stefan Cross has been recognised on a list for the very rare award that honours lawyers who have made an important contribution to the law in England and Wales outside of the practice of courts.
The award has only been awarded 50 times since 1992 and has only ever been given to 15 practising solicitors. With 125,000 solicitors currently practicing in the UK, this award is a great honour.
The official citation from the Ministry Of Justice reads, “Mr Stefan Tylney Cross was admitted as a solicitor on 1 August 1985. He has worked widely in the area of equal pay law. Stefan fought for equal pay rights for women who had not been heard by unions; on a no win no fee basis. He brought about substantial changes for several hundred thousand women, some of which received tens of thousands of pounds owed to them. Overall, more than £1billion has been paid to low paid women as a result of his work. Stefan has worked on 44 reported equal pay cases and has also championed the cause of low paid men.”
His work has included successful equal pay claims against all North East councils.
Mr. Cross, who founded Stefan Cross Solicitors in 2003, said, “I am thrilled to have been granted this award. There has been a lot of opposition to the equal pay cases we have fought so to have our work recognised in this way was a big surprise but enormously satisfying. I am especially grateful to the longstanding support of my staff and our barristers but most of all to our brave clients who have made the fight possible.”
He will be honoured in a ceremony that takes place on 27th March 2013.