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Discover›Law
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Brenda Hale
Judge

Brenda Hale

Famoose for

Becoming the first woman to lead the UK Supreme Court

Law reform

Born
31 January 1945
Birthplace
Leeds, England

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Brenda Hale

Brenda Hale is a British judge and legal scholar who served as Supreme Court president from 2017 to 2020. Her earlier career combined university teaching, law reform and judicial service.

Early life

Yorkshire and Cambridge

Raised in Yorkshire by parents who were headteachers, she studied law at Girton College, Cambridge.

Career

  1. 1984

    Law Commission

    Became its first woman member.

  2. 2004

    Law Lord

    Joined the House of Lords as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.

  3. 2017–2020

    Supreme Court president

    Led the United Kingdom’s highest court.

Selected work

Law reform

Worked on significant family-law reforms through the Law Commission.

Beyond work

Family

Her daughter is Julia Hoggett; Hale married fellow legal academic Julian Farrand in 1992.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗Additional biographical or achievement source ↗Additional biographical or achievement source ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris. CC BY 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.