As a sample size, 12 is undeniably small. But what is equally undeniable is the relative lack of diversity among the group, which includes only three women.
The issue of diversity at the Bar is clearly far from new but that does not mean we should stop talking about the problem. Quite the reverse. Until the numbers start to change, the more the issue is discussed in public, the better.
Speaking to some of the female barristers included in this year's Stars at the Bar lineup, as well as others from previous years, the message is clear: they believe there needs to be more open discussion around the challenge of addressing the lack of equal representation at the Bar.
For all the positives they have enjoyed during their careers at the Bar to date and there are many the ongoing lack of diversity is something they believe needs to be tackled head on.
The most recent stats from the Bar Standards Board show that despite half of pupils being female in 2016 and 16% black and minority ethnic (BME), only 36.5% of the overall practising Bar is female and only 12.7% is BME.
While the numbers are marginally up on the previous year, it's little wonder that some of our Stars describe the progress as glacial .
Somewhere along the way, talented women and minorities are getting lost and, by and large, the Bar remains white, male and middle class.
The majority of the British public do not have a clue how it actually works, TV dramas aside, and its elitist perception means it is in serious need of some demystifying in order to appeal to a wider range of recruits.
But fixing it at a recruitment level does not just mean targeting kids at an earlier stage, when there is time for them to work on the grades they will need in order to gain entry. More importantly, it means attracting their interest and making them believe that a career at the Bar is achievable regardless of gender, race or background.
It means reducing, or at the very least explaining, the financial risks associated with joining the Bar, and tackling the disparity between the number taking the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) and those actually securing a pupillage.
As many of those spoken to by Legal Week point out, City training contracts look like the easy gold-plated ticket to a risk-free legal career compared to entry to the self-employed Bar, where competition is greater and earnings less transparent.
But recruitment is only part of the problem. Retention is every bit as much of an issue. The pressure and stress of a career at the commercial Bar, along with a lack of support and leadership training, are highlighted as reasons for women leaving.
To reduce the problem to a lack of paid maternity leave is too simplistic. Indeed, some of those we spoke to highlight the positives of the Bar for childcare purposes: greater flexibility of practice and working hours, for example. As one Star comments: No one cares if you're in chambers or at a school play .
Regardless of whether or not they have children, women and BME barristers need mentoring and positive role models to guide them along the way, and for terms like an 'aggressive' litigator to have more gender neutral connotations.
They also need to be taken seriously. Our research for Stars at the Bar found more senior female barristers were repeatedly being named as juniors, even by those admiring their work.
They also need the Bar Council to ensure chambers properly crack down on the sexual discrimination and harassment that some experience, in order to encourage women to stay in the profession and fulfil their potential.
A report published last year by the Bar Standards Board found 40% of respondents said they had suffered harassment at the Bar, with slightly more saying they had experienced discrimination. Anecdotally, some believe the true numbers are likely to be higher.
Past suggestions from the Bar Council that there are now only isolated incidents of inappropriate behaviour and that this is being addressed as the older generation makes way for the next and social attitudes change are not seen by some as a strong enough response the issue.
Not that it is all bad. On the plus side, there is widespread acknowledgement that things are improving, with many chambers now taking a more progressive and modern approach and clients now more actively involved in choosing who they instruct.
Mandatory unconscious bias training for chambers, particularly for those involved in recruitment and managing pupils, is touted by some as a potential solution, with few going as far as to suggest things have yet reached a point where some kind of quota is required.
The appointment of Baroness Hale as the first-ever female president of the Supreme Court can only help the cause. This new representation at the very top of the profession now needs to be replicated with role models and mentoring at all levels of the Bar.
And, while there is a clearly a long way to go, there is one thing working in its favour. According to many of those interviewed for Stars at the Bar, once you're in, there are few careers as genuinely meritocratic as the Bar clients want the best minds and the best advocates; they don't really care whether they are male or female or what colour their skin is.
