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Doughty Street barrister who topped ‘Bar hottie’ list gets engaged to George Clooney

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By Alex Aldridge on

Did legal blog YourBarristerBoyfriend bring human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin and film star together?

George-Amal

Few anticipated what was to follow when, in August last year, Doughty Street junior barrister Amal Alamuddin was named the “hottest woman barrister in London” by the hit blog YourBarristerBoyfriend.

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Two months later, on 28 October, George Clooney was spotted out dining with a young barrister at Berners Tavern in central London. The identity of the legal rookie? None other than Alamuddin. Had George been reading YourBarristerBoyfriend, and then somehow cherry-picked the Oxford-educated human rights lawyer from the list, wondered conspiracy theorists?

On 18 February this year Alamuddin, 36, and Clooney, 52, were spotted together again at a private screening of the Hollywood star’s latest film, The Monuments Men. The sighting came about after a guest at the event posted a photo on Instagram showing the pair together.

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Last month, on 13 March, gossip about an Alamuddin-Clooney romance went into overdrive after the tabloids carried photos of them together in the Seychelles, where they apparently went after enjoying a safari in Tanzania.

Five days later the duo were papped leaving the Carlyle Hotel in New York.

And now, according to People magazine, Alamuddin and Clooney are getting married! Sources told the US gossip magazine that the couple celebrated their engagement on Wednesday evening at a dinner with friends in Los Angeles, with Alamuddin apparently sporting a “huge ring”.

Responding to the news, YourBarristerBoyfriend‘s Sonia van Gilder Cooke told Legal Cheek:

“Naturally we assume that George has always been an avid reader of YourBarristerBoyfriend. We like to think that our Hottest Female Barristers list is to George Clooney what the Victoria’s Secret catalogue is to Leonardo di Caprio.

“We personally select who goes on our lists, so it’s good to have our intuitions about Amal’s star quality confirmed.

“George and Amal’s coupling heralds the end of the bimbo age — quality men don’t just want arm candy anymore, they want women who are their equals (or betters) in looks, intelligence and accomplishments.”

For more on Alamuddin, there is a comprehensive profile of her career to date on Forbes, detailing how she started her career at top US law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, before switching to the Bar of England and Wales and joining Doughty Street.

Update 16:30: Doughty Street Chambers has issued this statement:

“The barristers and staff of Doughty Street Chambers offer their best wishes and congratulations to Ms Amal Alamuddin, a member of Chambers, and Mr George Clooney on their engagement to be married.”