Career

Having studied Natural Sciences as an undergraduate at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge in England.The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer students from less financially privileged backgrounds a chance to study...

, Kitchin switched to Law in his final year and was called to the Bar (Gray’s Inn) in 1977; he has been a Bencher

Bencher

A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...

 since 2003. During his university days, he also coxed the Cambridge team that won the 1975 Boat Race.

He became a Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 in 1994. In 2001, he was appointed a Deputy High Court Judge. He was appointed to the High Court of Justice

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

 on 3 October 2005 and assigned to the Chancery Division; he was knighted

Knight Bachelor

The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 in the same year. Kitchin has served as Chancery Supervising Judge for the Wales, Western and Midland Circuits since 2009. In 2011, he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal

Lord Justice of Appeal

A Lord Justice of Appeal is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, and represents the second highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales-Appointment:...

 effective 5 October 2011, and it was announced he would receive the customary appointment to the Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

.