Keir Monteith KC appointed Honorary Senior Lecturer at University of Manchester

We are delighted to announce that our Keir Monteith KC has been appointed as an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Manchester within the School of Social Sciences. The appointment is from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2025. 

Keir Monteith KC is a highly sought-after leading silk who represents clients facing heavyweight criminal allegations. He is ranked for criminal law in Chambers UK and the Legal 500, and is also ranked in Tier 1 for Fraud in the Legal 500. Keir also sits as a Recorder [part-time Crown Court judge], is a training tutor for the Judicial College. In July 2021, Keir became a Simon Fellow at the University of Manchester to work on research founded on a deep understanding of racism as both structural and interpersonal and projects on installing fairer treatment in the justice system. He took silk in 2019.

In Autumn 2022, the report 'Racial Bias and the Bench' was published, co-authored by experts from The University of Manchester and Keir Monteith KC in response to the Judicial Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (2020-2025). It raised urgent questions about racial attitudes and practices in the legal system in England and Wales. Keir Monteith KC undertook this work as a Simon Fellow at The University of Manchester. Professor Eithne Quinn of The University of Manchester is the report's academic lead author. Read the report here.

On 1 November, the event 'Racial Bias and the Bench - one year on, has progress been made?' assessed progress in meeting the challenges outlined in the report, one year after its publication. There was a panel discussion with guests including Abimbola Johnson from Doughty Street Chambers, Graham Ritchie from the Crown Prosecution Service; Katrina Ffrench from UNJUST, Haroon Siddique from the Guardian, and the authors of the report Professor Eithne Quinn and Keir Monteith KC.