C Smith

Catherine Smith K.C.

Year of Call: 2007

Year of Silk: 2021

Qualifications

LL.B. University of Glasgow

M.A. (Hons) University of Glasgow

Special interests

Personal Injury

Professional liability and regulation

Public and fatal accident inquiries

Public law, including judicial review and human rights

Biography

Catherine’s principal areas of work are reparation and public law. She specialises in personal injury, clinical negligence and judicial review cases.

Catherine has a busy practice in reparation work, acting for pursuers and defenders. She also acts in product liability cases; and has prior experience of criminal trials and appeals.

Catherine also undertakes a wide variety of advisory work for organisations including the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission; MDDUS (Medical and Dental Defence Union Scotland); Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; the Ministry of Defence and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

She is currently Counsel to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, and was Standing Junior Counsel to the Advocate General between 2012 - 2021. She has been on the Equality and Human Rights Commission Panel of Counsel since 2015.  

She is one of two advocate members of the Scottish Civil Justice Council.

Catherine appears regularly in the Court of Session, including the Inner House, and has appeared in the Supreme Court.

Catherine is a founding member and the Deputy Chair of JUSTICE Scotland, the Scottish arm of the London based NGO working on human rights and the rule of law. She is Co-Founder and Chair of the John Smith Centre for Public Service based at the University of Glasgow.