William Finlay, 2nd Viscount Finlay

William Finlay, 2nd Viscount Finlay, GBE, PC (15 October 1875 – 30 June 1945) was a British judge and peer.

Finlay was born in London, the son of Robert Finlay (later the Viscount Finlay), a future Lord Chancellor. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was President of the Cambridge Union. He was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1901 and joined the Northern Circuit.

In 1905, he was appointed junior counsel to the Board of Inland Revenue by his father, then the Attorney-General, an appointment which caused some controversy, given his father's position and his short standing at the bar. In 1914 he became a King's Counsel.

During World War I, Finlay served Chairman of the Contraband Committee in 1916, Vice-Chairman of the Allied Blockade Committee from 1917 to 1919, and temporary adviser to the Foreign Office for the Paris Peace Conference. For his wartime service, Finlay was appointed KBE in 1920. He was also appointed to the Légion d'honneur and was made an Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

After the War, Finlay returned to the bar and served as Commissioner of Assize.

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