Sir Andrew George Ritchie (born 4 April 1960) is a British High Court judge.

Early life and education

Ritchie grew up in

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

, London. He attended

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

and graduated with a BA in law in 1981.

Career

He was first admitted as a solicitor in 1984 and then was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1985, practising

personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an Injury (law), injury to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law, common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the ...

and

clinical negligence Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The negligen ...

from 9 Gough Chambers; he was head of chambers from 2012 to 2019. He

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 2009. He was on the executive committee of the

Association of Personal Injury Lawyers Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

from 1996 to 1999 and chair of the Personal Injury Bar Association from 2014 to 2016. He served as the College Advocate for Magdalene College, Cambridge. As a practitioner, he appeared before both the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

and the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. In addition to practice, he was general editor of ''Kemp & Kemp: Law Practice and Procedure'' from 2005 and he has served on the editorial board of ''Kemp & Kemp on Quantum'' since 2004 and continuing.

High Court appointment

On 1 October 2021, Ritchie was appointed a judge of the High Court and assigned to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

. He received the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

the following year.

Personal life

In 1988, he married Victoria Wilberforce and they had a son and a daughter; they were divorced in 2009. In 2012, he married Charlotte Chaliha FRCOG and they have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Andrew Living people 1960 births 21st-century English judges Knights Bachelor Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Queen's Bench Division judges English solicitors English King's Counsel 21st-century King's Counsel