About Roger

Roger Smith is an expert in domestic and international aspects of legal aid, human rights and access to justice.  He writes regularly in the specialist legal press in England and Wales, with regular op-ed pieces in the Law Society Gazette and the New Law Journal.  He edits the newsletter of the International Legal Aid Group (see http://www.ilagnet.org) on international developments in legal aid, on which he has researched, written and spoken widely, both in this country and overseas. Roger is a visiting professor of law at London South Bank University and an honorary professor at the University of Kent. He is a solicitor and has been director of the Legal Action Group, JUSTICE and West Hampstead Community Law Centre as well as director of policy and legal education at the Law Society, London, and solicitor to the Child Poverty Action Group. He is now working freelance as a researcher and writer.

Roger is a member of the advisory, steering or other boards of a number of organisations including The Rights Practice, Inquest, the Public Interest Litigation Service, Northern Ireland and the Centre for Professional Legal Education and Research at the University of Birmingham.

Roger was awarded an OBE in 2009. He received a lifetime achievement award from the Law Society in October 2012.