Of the three Judges who were first nominated to sit in the Commercial Court in 1895, two, Mr Justice Mathew and Mr Justice Collins, were later promoted to the Court of Appeal. Collins went on to become Master of the Rolls, head of the civil side of the Court of Appeal, and then a Law Lord. The third original Commercial Judge, Lord Russell of Killowen, was already Lord Chief Justice in 1895, making him a member of the Court of Appeal by virtue of his office, and qualifying him to sit on House of Lords appeals. Mathew, Collins, and Russell set a precedent for judicial career achievement which their Commercial Court successors maintained. The Court has nurtured dozens of Judges who have gone on to the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords, and, more recently, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and some of today’s most senior Judges were formerly members of the Court.

Dame Sue Carr grew up in Surrey and went to school in Buckinghamshire, before studying law and modern languages at Trinity College, Cambridge. She was called to the Bar in 1987 and joined chambers at Four New Square, practising commercial law with a particular emphasis on professional liability and insurance. Dame Sue was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2003, and became Chair of the Professional Negligence Bar Association and Head of Chambers at Four New Square, before her appointment to the High Court in 2013. She was a nominated Judge of both the Commercial Court and the Technology & Construction Court. Dame Sue was appointed Lady Justice of Appeal in 2020. In October 2023, she became the first female Chief Justice of England & Wales, adopting the title Lady Chief Justice. Dame Sue enjoys the theatre, sings with the Bar Choral Society, plays tennis, and is a keen skier.

After going to school in Worcester, Sir Julian Flaux studied law at Worcester College, Oxford, where he was awarded BA and BCL degrees. He was called to the Bar in 1978, and practised commercial law at 7 King’s Bench Walk from 1979 to 2007, specialising in insurance and reinsurance, shipping, international trade, and professional negligence. Sir Julian became a QC in 1994, and he was a Queen’s Bench Judge from 2007 to 2016, including a year as Judge in charge of the Commercial Court from 2014 to 2015. He was President of the Special Immigration & Appeals Commission in 2016, and was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in the same year. Sir Julian was appointed Supervising Lord Justice of the Commercial Court in Court in 2020, and Chancellor of the High Court in 2021. He enjoys walking and, in his more sedentary leisure hours, reading and opera.

Sir Peter Fraser was born in County Down and grew up in Kent and in Yorkshire. After going to school in Harrogate, he studied law at St John’s College, Cambridge, and was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1989. As a member of Atkin Chambers, he specialised in construction and technology litigation and in international arbitration. Sir Peter sat as a Recorder from 2002 to 2015, and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2009. He became a High Court Judge in 2015. Sir Peter was , and was Judge In Charge of the Technology & Construction Court from 2017 to 2020. He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and Chairman of the Law Commission in 2023. Sir Peter Fraser enjoys fine wine and sport: he played rugby union to a high standard for many years, and is an experienced triathlete and marathon runner.

Lord Nicholas Hamblen was educated in London, at St John’s College, Oxford, where he was awarded the University’s prestigious Eldon Law Scholarship, and in the USA. He was called to the Bar in 1981 and became a member of 20 Essex Street, practising in shipping, insurance and reinsurance, trade and commodities, and other areas of commercial law. Lord Hamblen was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997, and was a Queen’s Bench Judge from 2008 to 2016. He was a Lord Justice of Appeal from 2016 to 2020, when he was appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Lord George Leggatt was educated at Eton and at King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied philosophy. After further study at Harvard, he taught at the University of Chicago Law School and worked as a lawyer in New York. Lord Leggatt was called to the Bar in 1983, and was a member of Brick Court Chambers for twenty-seven years, practising in banking, insurance and reinsurance, and international trade, among other areas. He became Queen’s Counsel in 1997. When he was appointed as a Queen’s Bench Judge in 2012, he became the first - and, to date, only - child to follow a parent onto the Commercial Court Bench: his father, Sir Andrew, had been a Queen’s Bench Judge and Commercial Judge from 1982 to 1990, and a Lord Justice of Appeal from 1900 to 1997. Lord Leggatt joined the Court of Appeal himself in 2018, and was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2020. He enjoys cooking and wine, and is interested in Greece and philosophy.

After attending state schools in Kent, Sir Stephen Males studied at St John’s College Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1978. Sir Stephen was a member of 20 Essex Street, and specialised in international trade and sales, shipping, banking, and international commercial arbitration. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1998, and sat as a Recorder, as a Deputy High Court Judge, and as a commercial arbitrator before becoming a Queen’s Bench Judge in 2012. Sir Stephen was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2019. He has been a Lay Canon of Rochester Cathedral since 2008.

Of Welsh ancestry, Sir Stephen Phillips went to school in Chester and then studied law at University College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1984, following the same career as his father, who had been a barrister and then a County Court Judge. Sir Stephen joined 3 Verulam Buildings, where he specialised in banking and other financial aspects of commercial law, and in civil fraud. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002, a Recorder in 2000, and a Deputy High Court Judge in 2008 . Sir Stephen became a Queen’s Bench Judge in 2013, and was made a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2020. He enjoys hill-walking, tennis, and football.

Sir Andrew Popplewell went to school near Oxford but to university in Cambridge, where he studied law at Downing College and obtained a first class degree. He was called to the Bar in 1981. A member of Brick Court Chambers, Sir Andrew had a diverse practice which included elements of defamation, emloyment, and public law, as well as the more traditional commercial areas of shipping, international trade, insurance and reinsurance, and banking. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997. In 2011, he became a Queen’s Bench Judge, as his father had been, although Sir Oliver Popplewell did not sit in the Commercial Court. Sir Andrew was Judge in charge of the Commercial Court in 2017 to 2018, and was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2019. He is a trustee of the London Library, and enjoys fishing in wild places, such as Alaska and the more remote parts of England.