William Blair (judge)
Encyclopedia
Sir William James Lynton Blair (born 31 March 1950), styled The Hon. Mr Justice Blair, is a British
judge. He was previously a Queen's Counsel
, specialising in domestic and international banking and finance law. His younger brother is the former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair
.
to Leo Charles Lynton Blair, a barrister
and later a lecturer in law, and Hazel Corscadden. Like his brother Tony, the future Prime Minister
, he was educated at the independent Choristers School in Durham
and Fettes College
in Edinburgh
, before studying Jurisprudence
(Law) at Balliol College, Oxford
, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts
(BA). He was a contemporary at Oxford of Christopher Hitchens
, Robert Jackson
, William Waldegrave
, Edwina Currie
, Stephen Milligan
, John Scarlett
, John Redwood
, Bill Clinton
and Gyles Brandreth
. He was called to the Bar
at Lincoln's Inn
in 1972.
in 1994, becoming a Queen's Counsel
(QC) and was appointed a Recorder
in 1998. He became a Deputy High Court Judge
in 2003 and was in the same year admitted as a Barrister
of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
in the Territory of the Virgin Islands
.
On 4 February 2008 it was announced that the Queen had approved his appointment as a High Court Judge, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. He was sworn in on 28 February.
He is Visiting Professor of Law at the London School of Economics
(since 1994) and at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London
(since 1999). He has also been, since 1999, an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies (1997), and an academic adviser to the Asian Institute of International Financial Law.
From 2001 to 2008 he served, part-time, as a Chairman of the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal
(Finsmat) and from 2003 to 2005 he was Chairman of the Commercial Bar Association (Combar). He was also Chairman of the International Monetary Law Committee of the International Law Association (2004) and of the Qatar Financial Centre
Appeals Body (2006).
Along with Lord Woolf of Barnes, the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
, he served as the Co-Convener of the inaugural Qatar Law Forum of Global Leaders in Law
, held in Doha
, Qatar
, from 29–31 May 2009.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
judge. He was previously a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, specialising in domestic and international banking and finance law. His younger brother is the former British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
.
Early life and education
Blair was born in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Leo Charles Lynton Blair, a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and later a lecturer in law, and Hazel Corscadden. Like his brother Tony, the future Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, he was educated at the independent Choristers School in Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
and Fettes College
Fettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, before studying Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
(Law) at Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(BA). He was a contemporary at Oxford of Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
, Robert Jackson
Robert V. Jackson
Robert Victor Jackson is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1984 and Member of Parliament for Wantage from 1983 to 2005, having been elected as a Conservative; however, he joined the Labour Party in 2005.-Early life:He was raised in...
, William Waldegrave
William Waldegrave
William Waldegrave may refer to:* William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock , admiral* William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave , vice-admiral* William Waldegrave, 9th Earl Waldegrave , politician...
, Edwina Currie
Edwina Currie
Edwina Jonesnée Cohen is a former British Member of Parliament. First elected as a Conservative Party MP in 1983, she was a Junior Health Minister for two years, before resigning in 1988 over the controversy over salmonella in eggs...
, Stephen Milligan
Stephen Milligan
Stephen David Wyatt Milligan was a British Conservative politician and journalist. He held a number of senior journalistic posts until his election to serve as Member of Parliament for Eastleigh in 1992...
, John Scarlett
John Scarlett
Sir John McLeod Scarlett, KCMG, OBE was Director General of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 2004 to 2009...
, John Redwood
John Redwood
John Alan Redwood is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Wokingham. He was formerly Secretary of State for Wales in Prime Minister John Major's Cabinet and was an unsuccessful challenger for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995...
, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Daubeney Brandreth is a British writer, broadcaster and former Conservative Member of Parliament and junior minister.-Early life:...
. He was called to the Bar
Bar council
A bar council , in a Commonwealth country and in the Republic of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the King's Inns. Solicitors are generally regulated by the Law society....
at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
in 1972.
Career
Blair took SilkQueen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1994, becoming a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(QC) and was appointed a Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
in 1998. He became a Deputy High Court Judge
High Court judge
A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
in 2003 and was in the same year admitted as a Barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is a superior Court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States , including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and three British...
in the Territory of the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
.
On 4 February 2008 it was announced that the Queen had approved his appointment as a High Court Judge, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. He was sworn in on 28 February.
He is Visiting Professor of Law at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
(since 1994) and at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
(since 1999). He has also been, since 1999, an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies (1997), and an academic adviser to the Asian Institute of International Financial Law.
From 2001 to 2008 he served, part-time, as a Chairman of the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal
Financial Services and Markets Tribunal
The UK Financial Services and Markets Tribunal was an independent judicial body established under Section 132 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which heard references arising from decision notices issued by the Financial Services Authority ....
(Finsmat) and from 2003 to 2005 he was Chairman of the Commercial Bar Association (Combar). He was also Chairman of the International Monetary Law Committee of the International Law Association (2004) and of the Qatar Financial Centre
Qatar Financial Centre
Established in March 2005, The Qatar Financial Centre is a business and financial centre located in Doha, providing legal and business infrastructure for financial services...
Appeals Body (2006).
Along with Lord Woolf of Barnes, the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
, he served as the Co-Convener of the inaugural Qatar Law Forum of Global Leaders in Law
Qatar Law Forum of Global Leaders in Law
The Qatar Law Forum of Global Leaders in Law is a non-profit institution established under the patronage of the Government of Qatar with the purpose of bringing together prominent members of the global legal community, in addition to senior figures in the fields of economics, and politics...
, held in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, from 29–31 May 2009.
Publications
- Co-consultant editor of Butterworths Banking Law Handbook, 8th edition (December 2010)
- Co-editor of the Encyclopaedia of Banking Law, Butterworths, London
- Co-author of Banking and Financial Services Regulation, 3rd edition, Butterworths, London, 2002
- Editor of Banks and Remedies, LLP, London, 1999
- General editor of Bullen, Leake & Jacob's Precedents of Pleadings, 14th edition, Sweet & MaxwellSweet & MaxwellSweet & Maxwell is a British publisher specialising in legal publications. It joined the Associated Book Publishers in 1969; ABP was purchased by the Thomson Organization in 1987, and is now part of Thomson Reuters. Its British group includes W. Green in Scotland and Round Hall in Ireland...
, London, 2001 - Editor of Banks, Liability and Risk, 3rd edition, LLP, London, 2001