Anne Stevens, though, is no longer just Anne Stevens; she is Anne Stevens QC.
It will take a while to sink in."I was just so stunned," Mrs Stevens said, after receiving the phone call from Attorney-general David Parker nearly a month ago.
It was the fourth time she had gone through the "bruising" application process, and she had almost become resigned to the fact she would be continually overlooked.
"I was told a couple of years ago to stop being a troublemaker," Mrs Stevens told the Otago Daily Times.
"My response was that it wasn’t going to happen."
The "Queen’s Counsel" suffix regularly results in lawyers reducing their appearances in court, becoming more selective with the cases they take on and increasing their fees.
But following the well-worn path has never been in Mrs Stevens’ nature.
She can be spotted almost daily riding her bike around the city, often with her beloved pooch Louis in the front basket.
The appointment would certainly not lead to her trading up on her method of transportation. Nor, she confirmed, would she be cutting back on a punishing case load that has featured numerous complex and lengthy jury trials this year.
"I’ll be in courtroom number 1 every day. I’m needed there," she said.
Mrs Stevens said she took her responsibility as an advocate seriously and still struggled to say no when people called her, desperate for her legal assistance.
The veteran of more than 140 jury trials said despite her vast experience, she still got nervous when a jury delivered its verdict.
And she still regularly woke at 5am to make last-minute adjustments before delivering her closing address at the end of a trial.
"I feel this huge weight that I’ve got to get this right," she said.
The accolade, while recognising her achievements, was cause for celebration for all those who had helped her and the entire local legal community. Mrs Stevens made special mention of her family, as well as two role models: former University of Otago law professor Mark Henaghan ("he’s a real leader") and Nigel Hampton QC ("because he’s a fearless advocate").
"It’s not an award just for me. It represents the fact other people have shown me the way and shown me how to do it well."
While averse to change, she would undergo an enforced wardrobe upgrade.
Her hole-riddled, history-steeped former trial robes would be replaced by a new silk garment to reflect her status.
Joining her taking silk will be fellow Otago University law graduate Fiona Guy Kidd, of Invercargill, another criminal law expert.
The former Crown prosecutor of 15 years said the appointment was the realisation of a lifelong goal and she had been inundated with phone calls and flowers yesterday.
Mrs Guy Kidd said she might get more work from outside the South but, like Mrs Stevens, was still committed to doing legal-aid work "at the serious end".
Both will be formally called to the inner bar in their respective High Courts next month.
Other QCs appointed yesterday were: Paul Dale, Maria Dew, Vivienne Crawshaw, Belinda Sellars, Robert Hollyman (Auckland), James Rapley, Anthony Wilding (Christchurch) and Andru Isac (Wellington).
