Biography
Katrina Frances Banks-Smith was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia on 12 February 2018, having been appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2016.
Her Honour grew up in Tasmania, and graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours in 1988. In 1993 she obtained a Master of Laws degree with First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge, which she attended on a Commonwealth Government Scholarship.
She was a partner of the firm now known as Herbert Smith Freehills for many years before joining the Independent Bar in 2009. Her Honour was appointed Senior Counsel for Western Australia in 2013.
Prior to her appointment as a judge, she practised in commercial litigation, particularly in the areas of contract, banking, insolvency and mining law, as well as undertaking regulatory work.
Her Honour is the Chair of the Law School Advisory Board at Fremantle's Notre Dame University and for many years was the Chair of the Ethics Committee for Perth Children's Hospital.
