Barrister has headed readership committee of Banco Chambers
The New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice has announced the appointment of Katherine Richardson, a barrister with over two decades of experience, as a justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, to be sworn in on 3 June 2026.
“Her appointment is a welcome addition to the Supreme Court of New South Wales and will further strengthen the court’s ability to serve the people of this state,” said Michael Daley, NSW attorney general, in a media release.
Richardson will sit in the court’s Common Law Division. According to the state department, she replaces Justice Robertson Wright, who joined the bench in 2013 and served as the inaugural president of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“Katherine Richardson SC is an outstanding lawyer with a formidable intellect and an exceptional breadth of legal experience,” Daley said in the department’s media release.
The NSW department shared that Richardson has received consistent recognition as a leading silk. Daley highlighted her “strong commitment to the rule of law, and a proven capacity to deal with complex and sensitive matters.”
Richardson has headed the readership committee of Banco Chambers, which congratulated her on her judicial appointment.
“We wish Kate well for this new and exciting chapter in her career,” stated the update from Banco Chambers.
The department’s media release and Richardson’s profile for Banco Chambers provided more information regarding her professional work.
Her experience has spanned public and administrative law, regulatory matters, disciplinary proceedings, privacy, professional liability, environmental and planning matters, and public inquiries and coronial inquests of national significance.
Richardson’s client base has included corporations, federal and state government ministers and agencies, various professionals, and their insurance companies.
She became senior counsel in 2016 and earned admission to the bar in 2002. She has been a member of the NSW Bar Association and of its Silk Selection Committee.
Richardson’s work history included a stint as a litigation attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York before she returned to Australia in 2002.
She earned her LLM from Harvard Law School. In 1997, she commenced her legal career as a solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jacques in Sydney.
