Rt Hon the Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE
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, where she led successful projects in Family Law and Mental Capacity Law, and 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 has taken part in many notable cases, but most famously the ‘prorogation case’ in September 2019. She holds a number of honorary and visiting academic appointments, several honorary degrees, and is a Fellow of the British Academy. In retirement she has spent her time in good works, speaking and writing – her memoir, Spider Woman, A Life, was published in 2021.
