Lord Burnett of Maldon

Lord Burnett of Maldon, the former Lord Chief Justice, joined Blackstone Chambers on 1 February 2024.

His extensive experience makes him ideally suited to conduct and lead inquiries and investigations, as well as to sit as an arbitrator and to mediate. He became an Accredited CEDR mediator in 2024.

Lord Burnett studied law at Pembroke College, Oxford and was called to the Bar in 1980. From 2017 to 2023 he served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

Lord Burnett was Junior Counsel for the Crown, Common Law from 1992 and was appointed to Silk in 1998.

At the Bar, Lord Burnett’s practice focussed on public and administrative law, personal injury and health and safety law, including acting as junior counsel to the King’s Cross Fire inquiry and to the inquiry into the convictions of the Guildford Four and Maguire family. He was leading counsel to the inquiry into the Southall rail crash and into train protection systems following the Paddington train crash.

He was involved in many notable judicial review and public law cases and, in particular, in the years following 9/11 those concerning the Government’s response to the risk of terrorist attack. His final case at the Bar, before joining the High Court Bench, was as Counsel to the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi al Fayed.