Sir Max Hill KC
Senior Counsel and Policy Advisor
Special Matters and Government Investigations
King & Spalding
Lectures
The Criminal Justice System in England and Wales 2025 - 30 October 2025: access the recording and transcript here
Biography
Sir Max Hill KC is one of the UK’s preeminent barristers, having been lead counsel on many of the country’s most high-profile cases and also spending five years as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the most senior non-political public prosecutor in England and Wales.
Max has more than three decades of experience defending and prosecuting some of the most complex financial crime, high-value fraud and criminal cases to arise out of the UK, covering issues such as cartel investigations, corruption, corporate criminal liability and terrorism funding. He has held a number of prominent positions, including serving as the UK Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Leader of the South Eastern Circuit, Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association and Chairman of the Kalisher Trust. From 2018 to late 2023, Max served as the UK
DPP, the most senior non-political public prosecutor in England and Wales after the attorney general and solicitor general.
Prior to working as the DPP, Max was the Head of Chambers at Red Lion Chambers, where he led various significant and high-profile trials – including the 2005 7/7 London bombings and the murder of Damilola Taylor. He also provided advice to the 2012 London Olympics.
Max was called to the Bar in 1987, appointed Recorder in 2004 and then Queen's Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2008. In January 2024, he received a knighthood and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the New Year’s Honours List for his services to law and order.
Credentials
Education
Bar Finals, Inns of Court School of Law, UK
B.A. Law (Jurisprudence), Oxford University, UK
Admissions
England and Wales Queen's Counsel
Recognition
Knighthood
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, 2024
News
In the News
April 14, 2025 • Source: The Times
- Sir Max Hill KC, who is a commissioner for The Times Crime and Justice Commission, is highlighted and quoted in the publication’s report into the state of the criminal justice system in the UK
February 19, 2025 • Source: BBC's "You Do Not Have to Say Anything"
- Sir Max Hill KC joins the BBC series “You Do Not Have to Say Anything” to examine the innerworkings of the criminal justice system in the UK and how cases move through the system
February 16, 2025 • Source: BBC Politics London
- Sir Max Hill KC joins BBC Politics London to discuss the recent amendment proposals imposed by the Iraqi government to lower age of marriage