Douglas Wilson KC (Hon) OBE, Director General of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), is pleased to announce that Michael Padfield has been appointed Director and Deputy Head of the AGO following an open and fair recruitment process across the Civil Service.

Michael started his career as a commercial lawyer in the City of London before joining the litigation team in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department in 2014.

Since then, he has worked as a lawyer in a number of roles within the Government Legal Department, including in the Home Office and His Majesty’s Treasury, before first joining the AGO in 2020 then becoming Head of the Domestic Law Team in 2021.

Michael was appointed General Counsel in the Prime Minister’s Office in No10 in the autumn of 2023, a role which is staffed from AGO.  Michael has been a member of the Executive Board at AGO since 2021.  

Commenting on the appointment, Douglas Wilson KC (Hon) OBE said:

I’m absolutely delighted to announce Michael as Director at the AGO and my deputy.  Michael is a great lawyer and a strong leader who brings considerable experience of working on the hardest legal problems in government. He is a trusted adviser to the Law Officers and to other Ministers, and has a wide network in No10 and across Whitehall.

I look forward to working together with Michael to support the Law Officers and lead the AGO in making law and politics work together at the heart of the UK constitution.