Joel Smith KC

“Joel is one of the leading new silks at the criminal Bar. He is frequently instructed in the most high profile cases at the Old Bailey and is well liked and respected by the senior judiciary. He is a particularly tough cross-examiner.” Legal 500 2026:  Crime

“Joel is a class act. He is a pleasure to work, as he can get to the nub a complex issue in a millisecond and make it appear elementary. He is incredibly hard-working and responsive.” Legal 500 2026:  Extradition

“Joel is the perfect silk; pragmatic and down to earth. He is intellectually brilliant and can break down anything to something simple. Joel makes sense of anything for anybody.”  Chambers UK 2026:  Extradition

“Joel is always excellent and easy to work with. He is vastly experienced and razor sharp on the law and tactics.”  Chambers UK 2026:  Extradition

“A highly proficient advocate, who excels in cases involving technical issues, and is great at presenting complex material to a jury.” Chambers UK 2026:  Crime

Criminal Bar Association
South Eastern Circuit
Extradition Lawyers’ Association

LLB (Hons) London School of Economics
Bar Vocational Courts – Inns of Court School of Law
Called to the Bar (Inner Temple) 2002

Chapter author/contributor to “Disclosure in Criminal Proceedings” (2025), edited by Paul Jarvis and Oliver Glasgow KC.

I, Joel Smith KC, am a data controller and can be contacted at 3 Raymond Buildings, Gray’s Inn, London WC1R 5BH or by telephone on 020 7400 6400 or by email at joel.smith@3rblaw.com.  My Data Protection Policy can be found here.

All personal data that I process is for the purposes of providing legal services, conducting conflict-checks, marketing, defending potential complaints, legal proceedings or fee disputes, keeping anti-money laundering records, training other barristers and pupils and when providing work-shadowing opportunities, and/or exercising a right to a lien.  The types of data I process vary upon the nature of the legal matter in relation to which I am engaged to advise, but can include names, contact details, biographic details and ‘special category personal data’ (such as details of racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health, sex life and criminal convictions and proceedings).

Depending upon the circumstances of the case, the legal bases upon which I process personal data are (i) the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract, (ii) the processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations to which I am subject, or (iii) the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests set out above, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subjects which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.  When I rely on (iii) legitimate interests, my ‘Legitimate Interests Assessment’ can be found here.  When I process data which has not been obtained directly from the data subject (e.g. personal data contained in evidential materials), it will have been supplied to me as part of my instructions in circumstances covered by legal professional privilege.

Depending upon the circumstances of the case, I may share the personal data with:

1. my Chambers, which supplies professional and administrative support to my practice;
2. Courts and other tribunals to whom documents are presented;
3. my lay and professional clients;
4. potential witnesses, in particular experts, and friends or family of the data subject;
5. solicitors, barristers, pupils, mini pupils and other legal representatives;
6. ombudsmen and regulatory authorities;
7. current, past or prospective employers;
8. education and examining bodies;
9. business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies.

I retain personal data for no longer than 7 years after the case has come to an end or as otherwise required by law.

I do not intend to transfer data to any country which is not either within the European Union, or otherwise permitted by UK data protection legislation.

Under the UK GDPR, data subjects whose personal data I process have the right to request from me access to, and rectification or erasure of, their personal data, the right to the restriction of processing concerning them, the right to object to processing as well as the right to data portability.  Data subjects also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).

In cases where there is a contract between me and the data subject, the provision of personal data is a contractual requirement and the data subject is obliged to provide the personal data in order that I can supply legal services.  A failure to provide such data may mean that I will not be able to provide those legal services.

Data Protection Policy

Legitimate Interests Assessment