Although his father was an eminent QC, Mr Justice Butcher initially studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was awarded a first class degree, and was elected a Prize Fellow of All Soul’s College in 1983. Oxford. Belatedly taking to the law, Sir Christopher was called to the Bar in 1986, and was awarded the University of Oxford’s prestigious Eldon Law Scholarship in 1987. He became a member of chambers at 7 King’s Bench Walk, where he specialised in particular in insurance and reinsurance, shipping, banking, and arbitration. Sir Christopher was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2001. He became a Recorder in 2009 and a Deputy High Court in 2013. He has been a High Court Judge in 2018.

Sir Christopher Butcher retains a keen interest in history, and was awarded a PhD by the University of London in 2019. The subject of his thesis was Sir Thomas Talfourd, the early 19th Century English Radical politician, author, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas