Sir Andrew Smith

Sir Andrew Smith was appointed to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of England and Wales in July 2000, and nominated to sit in the Admiralty Court and the Commercial Court.

He also sat in the King’s Bench and Chancery Divisions of the High Court, the Crown Courts and the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal. Between 2003 and 2006 he was Presiding Judge of the North Eastern Circuit, and was the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court in 2008 and 2009. He retired as a full-time Judge in 2016.

Sir Andrew was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1974. The focus of his practice at the Bar was commercial work, but it also comprised common law and chancery litigation and advisory work, and cases at the Parliamentary Bar. He was appointed King’s Counsel in 1990, and elected a Master of the Bench of the Middle Temple in 1999. While at the Bar, he served as a Recorder, and also sat as an arbitrator.

His recent arbitration work since retirement from the bench includes references from the Middle and Far East, and has adjudicated upon commercial matters, including such work as shareholder and distributorship disputes.