Kelby Harmes
Biography
Kelby Harmes was appointed Director and Deputy Head of the Attorney General’s Office in October 2021, having previously served in that role on an interim basis between October 2020 and July 2021.
Kelby joined the Attorney General’s Office in 2018 as a Deputy Director, leading the Office’s Public Law and Litigation Team. Prior to that, he held senior legal roles in Cabinet Office Legal Advisers, including as interim head of the Constitutional Law Team, and at DCMS Legal Advisers, where he worked for seven years on the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Following the Games, he was appointed Chief Adviser to the Deputy Secretary for Justice (Policy) in the New Zealand Ministry of Justice, where he also led the Ministry’s Criminal Law team before returning to the UK in 2015.
Kelby was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand and worked there in various legal roles in the public and private sectors before he relocated to the UK in 2003. He was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2004 and, after working as a legal adviser in the former Department for Constitutional Affairs (now known as the Ministry of Justice) was appointed the Private Secretary to the Lord Chief Justice in 2005.
Director and Deputy Head of the Attorney General’s office
The Director is Deputy Head of a team of 55-60 legal, policy and corporate professionals, who support the Attorney General and Solicitor General across the range of their functions.