Sir Robin Knowles sits in the Commercial Court, the Administrative Court, and the Court of Appeal Criminal Division of the High Court of England and Wales. He is a designated judge of the Financial List. Before appointment to the High Court, he sat as a recorder in the Crown Court for 15 years, and as a deputy High Court judge. He is a qualified mediator and has sat as an arbitrator. Before appointment to the Bench, Sir Robin was chairman of the Commercial Bar Association (2005-7). Accountable to an international Steering Group, Sir Robin is the judge with day-to-day responsibility for the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts (SIFoCC). He is a member of the Financial Markets Law Committee, and of its board. In the context of the pandemic, Sir Robin chaired the cross-sector Working Group on Possession Proceedings established by the Head of Civil Justice. He was the chairman of the International Committee of the Judicial College of England & Wales (2016-2020). With others, he led work to bring about the Rolls Building - the world's largest dedicated business dispute resolution centre. He has worked over many years with Sir William Blair on a number of initiatives, from work to secure the new Queen's Counsel system, to work on law and ethics in finance, to a range of work internationally. Sir Robin has a career-long involvement in the encouragement and coordination of legal pro bono work, nationally and internationally, and chairs Advocate (the Bar Pro Bono Unit) and the National Pro Bono Centre. A member of the Civil Justice Council, Sir Robin chairs its Standing Committee on access to justice for those without means. Within the Courts and Tribunals Reform Programme he chairs the Litigants in Person Engagement Group (LIPEG).