These restrictions had a number of consequences: they made the taking of silk something of a professional risk, because the appointment abolished at a stroke some of the staple work of the junior barrister; they made the use of leading counsel more expensive, and therefore ensured that they were retained only in more important cases, and they protected the work of the junior bar, which could not be excluded by the retention of leading counsel. By the end of the twentieth century, however, all of these rules had been abolished one by one. Appointment as QC has been said to be a matter of status and prestige only, with no formal disadvantages. But economic risk may remain, in some markets, because of loss of junior work to the successful applicant.