Dame Joanna Angela Smith, DBE (born 27 April 1968), styled Mrs Justice Smith, is a British High Court judge.[1]

Mrs Justice Smith
Smith in 2022
Justice of the High Court
Assumed office
15 February 2021
Personal details
Born (1968-04-27) 27 April 1968 (age 56)
London, England
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Smith was born in London, England in 1968 and educated at King's Ely. She attended Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating in 1986, and graduated with a first-class MA in jurisprudence.[2][1]

She was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1990, practising commercial, professional negligence and construction law from Cornerstone Chambers and Wilberforce Chambers.[3][4] Smith took silk in 2009 and was appointed a deputy High Court judge in 2017. As a practitioner, she appeared in the 2015 Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi case before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Prior to her full-time judicial appointment, she took appointments as an arbitrator.[5][1]

On 15 February 2021, Smith was appointed a judge of the High Court and assigned to the Chancery Division.[6][7] She received the customary damehood in 2020.[1]

In 1994, she married Mark Vanhegan (a fellow KC) and together they have two daughters.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Smith, Hon. Dame Joanna Angela, (born 27 April 1968)". Who's Who (UK). 1 December 2021. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u249683. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Women at the House - Joanna Smith". Christ Church, Oxford. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Former member Joanna Smith QC has been appointed as a Justice of the High Court". Cornerstone Chambers. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Joanna Smith QC appointed High Court judge". Wilberforce Chambers. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  5. ^ "High Court Judges 2020". Judicial Appointments Commission. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Senior Judiciary". Judiciary UK. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  7. ^ "High Court Appointment". Judiciary UK. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2022.