Kathryn Thirlwall
Dame Kathryn [Kate] Mary Thirlwall, DBE (born 21 November 1957), styled The Rt Hon Lady Justice Thirlwall, is an English judge of the Court of Appeal, and since December 2019 is the [Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales].[1] She practised as a barrister from 1982, was a High Court judge from April 2010, and was promoted to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in February 2017.[2]
Lady Justice Thirlwall DBE | |
---|---|
Lady Justice of Appeal | |
Assumed office 2017 | |
Justice of the High Court | |
In office 2010–2017 | |
Succeeded by | Sir Julian Knowles |
Personal details | |
Born | 21 November 1957 |
Alma mater | University of Bristol Northumbria University |
Occupation | Judge |
Thirlwall was educated at St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy in Sunderland, and at the University of Bristol, and studied for the Common Professional Examination at Newcastle Polytechnic.[3]
She was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1982. She specialised in local authority education and abuse litigation. She became a QC in 1999, and served on the Professional Standards Committee of the Bar Council from 1999 to 2005. She became head of chambers at 7 Bedford Row in 2006, and a bencher of Middle Temple in 2008.[4]
Thirlwall was appointed as an assistant recorder in 1998 and then as a recorder in 2000. She was appointed as a High Court judge in April 2010, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, and received the customary damehood. She was Presiding Judge of the Midlands Circuit from 2011 to 2015.[5][6] She was promoted to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in February 2017.[7]
She is married to Professor Charles Kelly; they have two children, James Kelly & Rosalind Isabella Margaret Thirlwall Kelly.
References
- https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/appointment-of-deputy-senior-presiding-judge/
- "Senior judiciary". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ‘THIRLWALL, Hon. Dame Kathryn (Mary)’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
- Masters of the Bench - The Hon Mrs Justice Thirlwall DBE, Middle Temple
- 2017: Alumni lecture: Rt Hon Justice Thirlwall, University of Bristol Law School
- Appointment of Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal: September 2016, gov.uk
- Solicitors to judges, The Times, 15 September 2016