David B. Goodman Lecture

The Rt Hon Lady Hale of Richmond DBE, Former President, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Lady Hale retired as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the most senior Judge in the United Kingdom, in January 2020. Before becoming a Judge, she had a varied career, as an academic lawyer at the University of Manchester (also qualifying and practising for a while as a barrister in Manchester), as the first woman member of the Law Commission, a statutory body which promotes the reform of the law, where she led successful projects in Family Law and Mental Capacity Law, and also sat as a part time Judge. She was appointed a High Court Judge in 1994, was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1999, and in 2004 became the first and only woman ‘Law Lord’ in the House of Lords, then the apex court in the United Kingdom. In 2009, the Law Lords were translated into the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. She became its Deputy President in 2013 and its first woman President in 2017. She is also President of the United Kingdom Association of Women Judges and a past President of the International Association of Women Judges. In retirement she has spent her time writing – her memoir, Spiderwoman, A Life, was published last year – and speaking. She holds a number of visiting and honorary academic appointments and is Trustee or Patron of several charities.

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