Sir David Andrew Foxton (born 14 October 1965) is a British High Court judge.

Education

Foxton was educated at

Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational private day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully private school in ...

. He took a first-class BA in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

and BCL from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, in 1986 and 1987 respectively. He was an Eldon Scholar in 1989 and completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

in 2001.

Career

He 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 ...

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

in 1989. He established a practice in commercial law, based at

Essex Court Chambers Essex Court Chambers is a set of commercial barristers in Lincoln's Inn Fields, central London. It has 110 tenants, of whom 55 are King's Counsel, also known as Silks. It is considered by legal commentators to be one of the ' Magic Circle' of Londo ...

from 1989 to 2020. 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 2006. In addition to practice, he wrote several books. He was editor, with Sir Bernard Eder, of '' Scrutton on Charterparties and Bills of Lading'' from 2008 to 2015. He wrote ''Revolutionary Lawyers: Sinn Fein and Crown Courts in Britain and Ireland 1916–1923'' in 2008 and ''The Life of T. E. Scrutton'', concerning the former

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...

Thomas Edward Scrutton Sir Thomas Edward Scrutton (28 August 1856 – 18 August 1934) was an English barrister, judge, and legal writer. Biography Thomas Edward Scrutton was born in London, the son of Thomas Urquhart Scrutton (1828–1896), a wealthy shipowner and hea ...

, in 2013. He has been a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

of law at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

since 2007. He was appointed

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 2007. He was head of chambers at

from 2017 to 2020.

Judicial career

He served as a

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

from 2009 to 2020 and a deputy High Court judge from 2016 to 2020. On 13 January 2020, he was appointed a judge of the High Court and 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 ...

in the same year. He was 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 ...

and appointed to the

Commercial Court Business courts, sometimes referred to as commercial courts, are specialized courts for legal cases involving commercial law, internal business disputes, and other matters affecting businesses. In the US, they are trial courts that primarily or ...

. He is on the Financial List, hears cases on the

Competition Appeal Tribunal The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) of the United Kingdom was created by Section 12 and Schedule 2 to the Enterprise Act 2002, Enterprise Act 2002 which came into force on 1 April 2003. The Competition Service is an executive non-department ...

and sits on the

Administrative Court An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

. He is currently Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court.

Personal life

In 1992, he married Heather Crook, with whom he has two sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foxton, David Living people 1965 births 21st-century English judges Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Members of Gray's Inn Queen's Bench Division judges People educated at the Glasgow Academy Academics of the University of Nottingham