Two former City solicitors have been appointed to the High Court bench. Former Allen & Overy arbitration partner, Richard Smith, will take up his post in the Chancery Division later this month. Smith, who qualified in 1994, spent his career with Allen & Overy (A&O), becoming partner in 2001.

He left the firm in 2018 for graduate study at Cambridge University alongside work as an arbitrator, and sitting as a Crown court recorder. He was appointed a deputy High Court judge in 2019.

Alongside his commercial disputes practice, Smith specialised in public inquiry work, representing witnesses before the BSE, Bloody Sunday, and Hong Kong Airport inquiries.

Mark Levy KC, A&O’s head of international arbitration, said: ’On behalf of his former colleagues we congratulate Richard on his promotion. I am sure he will make an outstanding contribution to the High Court bench.’

Smith will join Mr Justice Jonathan Richards, appointed last month. Richards, a former partner at Linklaters and EY, was appointed a judge of the Upper Tax and Chancery Chamber in 2018, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge from 2020, in the Chancery Division.

Only two solicitors were appointed as deputy High Court judges in this year’s round, a feeder role for the senior judiciary, a contrast to 2019, when a third of appointees were solicitors.

A drop in the level of senior judicial appointments led to Law Society criticisms of the JAC’s track record in appointing solicitors.

The Society welcomed the latest announcement: ’We’re happy to see another solicitor appointed to the High Court. Solicitors bring particular skills and experiences to the judicial process and decision-making,' a spokesperson said. 'We hope to see many more following in Richard’s footsteps.’

 

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