Matthew Smith

Matthew is a barrister and experienced public lawyer. He has full rights of audience and extensive experience working in the private and public sector. He was a central Government lawyer for 12 years – at the Treasury Solicitor, HM Treasury and the Home Office.

As a litigator, Matthew has an impressive track record in high profile, complex judicial reviews and statutory appeals at all levels of the domestic system, as well as in the European Court of Human Rights (O’Donoghue v The UK). These cases often involved sensitive human rights arguments (eg Antoniou v CNWL & Ors).

Matthew has acted in many key public inquiries and investigations of recent years: Bloody Sunday and Hutton (representing prominent Government witnesses); Equitable Life; Savile; and the Independent Inquiry in to Child Sexual Abuse. He is also currently the deputy solicitor to the Westminster Bridge and London Bridge and Borough Market Inquests respectively.

As an advisory lawyer, Matthew has worked across various sectors, including for:

• Ministers implementing immigration, customs and police reform
• health and social care bodies consulting on major service reconfiguration and integration
• regulators grappling with complex data protection, freedom of information, privacy and confidentiality issues
• international corporates seeking a new regulatory framework for novel products and Brexit advice

Matthew has also worked on several Bill teams, steering primary legislation through Parliament, prepared legislative amendments for those seeking to deliver reform (eg in the field of international anti-corruption efforts) and drafted secondary legislation in a wide range of policy contexts.