David Allen Green (born 28 March 1971; 'Allen' is his second forename) is an English lawyer and writer. He is the former legal correspondent for the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

''; writes about law and policy for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''; and has previously blogged using the pseudonym Jack of Kent. Green's articles on legal matters have been published by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Lawyer ''The Lawyer'' is a legal business information product for law firm leaders, commercial lawyers, barristers A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advoc ...

'', ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'', ''

'' '' Prospect''. and others. Green was shortlisted for the Orwell prize for blogging in 2010 and was a judge of the same in 2011. He was also named in 2010 as one of the leading innovators in journalism and media, and in 2011 as one of the 'Hot 100' lawyers by ''

''.

Education and early life

Green was born at

Selly Oak Hospital Selly Oak Hospital was a hospital situated in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, England. Previously managed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital closed in 2011. History Origins The site was originally sel ...

and brought up in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. After attending Four Dwellings comprehensive school and Halesowen College sixth-form, he studied

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

as an undergraduate student of

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

. He subsequently studied law at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Career

In 2012, Green was listed on the '' Independent on Sunday'' newspaper Pink List, a list of influential British LGBT people. On Twitter, Green said that he was

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

in response to the listings. He has also said that he was "not Christened, and am still less a Christian".

Legal career

After being awarded the Sir Thomas More and Hardwicke Scholarships by

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

, Green 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 ...

in 1999 and became a solicitor in 2001. Formerly a lawyer at

Baker McKenzie Baker McKenzie is an international law firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1949 under the name Baker & McKenzie, it has 68 offices in 46 countries and employs 4,558 attorneys. History Co-founding partner Russell Baker, who had graduate ...

, Herbert Smith, and the

Treasury Solicitor The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Profession. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor (formall ...

, he is now (and since 2009) head of the media practice at Preiskel & Co. He was involved on a ''

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

'' basis with Simon Singh's successful libel defence campaign against the British Chiropractic Association. In 2010, he advised Sally Bercow over possible libel action by think tank

MigrationWatch UK Migration Watch UK is a British think-tank and campaign group which argues for lower immigration into the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, the group believes that international migration places undue demand on limited resources and that the cu ...

and their chairman Sir Andrew Green which was later dropped. He led the defence in the Twitter Joke Trial, in which defendant Paul Chambers was acquitted on appeal on 27 July 2012.

Journalism

Green is a blogger on his own blog, and previously one under the name Jack of Kent (named after Jack o' Kent), is a columnist on law and policy for the ''

''; and has contributed to the ''

'', ''

'', and the ''

'' in the past. He has been a guest on the Remainiacs podcast several times in 2019, and has used his expertise to explain aspects of

United Kingdom constitutional law The United Kingdom constitutional law concerns the governance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. With the oldest continuous political system on Earth, the British constitution is not contained in a single code but princ ...

as they relate to

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

and the 2019 British prorogation controversy. In 2012, he gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, David Allen Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Birmingham English solicitors English legal writers English male journalists Living people English sceptics English male bloggers English LGBTQ journalists English bisexual men English bisexual writers English LGBTQ lawyers Lawyers from Birmingham, West Midlands Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands Bisexual male writers Bisexual journalists 1971 births LGBTQ bloggers 21st-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English lawyers