longstanding debate in Bermuda's legal community over who -- if anybody -- should get the title.

Some lawyers think Bermuda's QC system is doomed, some say it is mishandled, and others say it is simply suffering minor teething problems. Last Thursday, the Bar Association decided to set up a committee to re-think the way it decides who is eminent enough to win the title of Queen's Counsel.

None of the lawyers interviewed criticised the new appointees -- Mr. Geoffrey Bell and Mrs. Dianna Kempe of Appleby, Spurling & Kempe, and Mr. Charles Collis of Conyers, Dill & Pearman.

But it remains a ticklish subject, tainted by personal jealousies and inter-firm rivalries, and few of those interviewed would allow their names to be used.

The system stems from a British tradition of awarding the title of Queen's Counsel to the most prominent barristers -- lawyers who actually perform in the courtroom.

But the system adopted by the Bermuda Bar Association in 1988, over the objection of its executive Bar Council, was meant to recognise the "fused'' nature of Bermuda lawyers, which makes no distinction between barristers and solicitors.

Indeed, none of the four lawyers made QCs under the new system -- Mr. Michael Mello in 1988 and the three last week -- spend any significant time in the courtroom at all.

Mr. Julian Hall MP, who said he is not trying to disparage the new QCs and has never applied to become a QC himself, said "the system is coming increasingly into disrepute.'' He worries the process is dominated by Bermuda's two big law firms, CD & P and AS & K, "and is making itself increasingly vulnerable to allegations of racism.'' Bermuda's legal community is multi-racial, he said. The fact that none of the four QC's appointed under the new system is black "is a kick in the teeth for the black Bermudian lawyer.'' The QC designation "can have tremendous impact on your ability to attract international clients,'' Mr. Hall added. "If a law firm can list on its stationery people with initials QC after their name, it can give the misleading impression that these are leading practitioners who have excelled in court.'' But Bermuda QCs so far, he said, "basically just grace the courts with their absence.'' Mr. Hall's views are by no means isolated, several other lawyers said.

Many said the three new appointments were to be expected as CD & P and AS & K sought to correct a perceived imbalance.

The much smaller firm of Mello, Hollis, Jones & Martin has two QCs on its letterhead -- Mr. Mello, and Mr. Saul Froomkin, who earned one QC in Canada, and a second one through his service as Bermuda's Attorney General.

But until this week, AS & K and CD & P had no QCs at all.

"My own feeling is that this is a marketing ploy,'' said a prominent lawyer who works with neither firm. "Mello & Jones had two silks and CD & P and AS & K decided they needed some.'' Another lawyer with a major firm said the QC system should be abolished in Bermuda. The Island is so small, he said, that lawyers know each other's merits and faults. Any attempt to call someone particularly eminent is bound to fall flat.

"The main purpose of QCs is to distinguish some lawyers from others,'' he said. "It has little rationale in a small professional community like Bermuda where everybody knows everybody. The negatives far outweigh the positives.'' HONOURED -- Mr. Geoffrey Bell (left) and Mr. Charles Collis were two of three local lawyers to be appointed Queen's Counsels last week.