Roger Smith – Director
Roger Smith OBE is a solicitor and has been director of JUSTICE since 2001. He has worked in a variety of non-government organisations since 1973 when he joined Camden Community Law Centre after training at Allen and Overy, a London city firm. He has been director of West Hampstead Law Centre, solicitor to the Child Poverty Action Group, director of the Legal Action Group and director of legal education and training at the Law Society.
Roger has written widely about legal matters, particularly those relating to legal aid. While at the Legal Action Group, he oversaw a number of projects which resulted in publications on access to justice: these included A Strategy for Justice (1992), Shaping the Future: new developments in legal services (1996), Justice: redressing the balance (1997) and Contracting: the lessons from North America (1999).
Roger edits JUSTICE’s Journal and a bimonthly newsletter on international developments in legal services published jointly by JUSTICE and the International Legal Aid Group (available at www.ilagnet.org). He writes widely for other publications, including monthly columns for the Law Society Gazette and the New Law Journal. Roger is a visiting professor at the University of London South Bank and an Honorary Professor at the University of Kent. He has an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Westminster.