William Blair (judge)

Sir William James Lynton Blair (born 31 March 1950) is a retired British judge. He was previously a Queen's Counsel at 3 Verulam Buildings, specialising in domestic and international banking and finance law. He is the elder brother of former British prime minister Tony Blair.[1]

Sir

William Blair
High Court Judge
Queen's Bench Division
In office
27 February 2008 – 1 December 2017
Appointed byElizabeth II
Personal details
Born
William James Lynton Blair

(1950-03-31) 31 March 1950
Scotland
NationalityBritish
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
Inns of Court School of Law
OccupationJudge
ProfessionLawyer, professor

Professor of Financial Law and Ethics at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, he served as a High Court Judge in England and Wales for nearly ten years, and was Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court from 2016.  

In 2017, Sir William rejoined 3 Verulam Buildings as an Associate Member, an is now a member of 3VB's International Advisory and Dispute Resolution Unit (IADRU).

He is the Chair of the Bank of England’s Enforcement Decision Making Committee (EDMC) and in 2018 was appointed to the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China.

Early life and education

Blair was born in Scotland 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 (B.A.).

Blair was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1972.

Career

Blair took Silk in 1994 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.[2] He was sworn in on 28 February.[3] In 2016 he became Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court.[4]

He became a member of London's Financial Markets Law Committee in 2008.[5]

In 2012, he became president of the Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities.[6]

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 is also chairman of the International Monetary Law Committee of the International Law Association (from 2004), and of the Qatar Financial Centre Appeals Body (2006).

Along with Lord Woolf, 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.

He retired as a High Court Judge on 1 December 2017 to take up a position as Professor of Financial Law and Ethics at Queen Mary, University of London.[7][8]

Since 2018, he has been sitting part-time as a Deputy Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong[9][10] (where he is given a Chinese name "貝理賢" by the Hong Kong Judiciary).

Publications
  • Co-editor, Research Handbook on Ethics in Banking and Finance (Edward Elgar Publishing 2019)
  • Co-editor, Banks and Financial Crime, the International Law of Tainted Money, 2nd edn (Oxford University Press, 2017)
  • General editor of Bullen, Leake & Jacob's Precedents of Pleadings, 18th edition, Sweet & Maxwell, London, 2015
  • Co-consultant editor of Butterworths Banking Law Handbook, 8th edition (December 2010)
  • Co-author of Banking and Financial Services Regulation, 3rd edition, Butterworths, London, 2002
  • Co-editor Encyclopaedia of Banking Law (Butterworths, London, 1999)
  • Editor of Banks and Remedies, LLP, London, 1999
  • Editor of Banks, Liability and Risk, 3rd edition, LLP, London, 2001

References
  1. Dyer, Clare (17 February 2007). "Blair's brainy brother, in law". The Guardian. London.
  2. "Judicial Appointments". News Distribution Services. Ministry of Justice. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  3. The London Paper, 28 February 2008
  4. "Mr Justice Blair". judiciary.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  5. "Members". tackling issues of legal uncertainty, domestic, pan-European and international, present and future, in the wholesale financial markets. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  6. "Joint Board of Appeal – European Banking Authority". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  7. "High Court: Retirement of the Honourable Sir William James Lynton Blair".
  8. Sir William Blair appointed as Professor of Financial Law and Ethics at Queen Mary
  9. "G.N. 1375" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 9, Vol. 22, 2 March 2018)
  10. "G.N. 8254" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 52, Vol. 23, 27 December 2019)
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