Spider Woman: A Life – by the former President of the Supreme Court

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Berglof, Annie Maccoby (12 August 2011). "Taking tea in Wonderland". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018 . Retrieved 11 August 2018. I was cross at the prejudice and sexism she encountered and full of admiration for her overcoming them. She sets out excellent (in my view incontrovertible) arguments for resisting patriarchal status quo. I was reminded that fish are unaware of the water in which they swim…. In 2009, when the Supreme Court was created, she became Deputy President and then, in 2017, the President which gave her, and her brooch, a date with destiny as Boris Johnson tried to send MPs off on holiday as the Brexit departure date was approaching.

Spider Woman - Penguin Books UK

While there is much to marvel at in Brenda Hale’s list of achievements, this Spider Woman has no need of the superpowers of her comic book namesake. “Equal to anything” is her motto, and though the other judges were anxious about her “agenda” when she first joined the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords in 2004, she seems to have been a fairly traditional feminist of the kind who simply sees no reason why being a woman should be any bar to her doing just as well as a man in any professional role. That’s not to say she always had a man’s sometimes unwarranted confidence. Right at the start of the book she confesses to repeated bouts of imposter syndrome, while also revealing a slightly mischievous iconoclasm: This book is not only essential reading for anyone who is in the Law or interested in the Law but it is also a fascinating personal story Cherie Blair I appreciated Lady Hale's softness throughout the book, she didn't feel the need to present herself as a 'strong' woman. She was open about her feelings of being an imposter at points and about her disappointments. She was logical and listening in her approach to cases. She smiled through moments where her gender unnecessarily became the forefront and calmly requested changes to be made. She remained human and ordinary in her writing and that makes it more inspiring as a reader- there is a feeling of 'maybe I could do something like that too'. As a woman aspiring barrister, I can't help but feel like an imposter most of the time when I am in the midst of/ working towards pursuing a career at the English Bar. However, it is quite reassuring to know that it is normal to experience this but one's progress in achieving success should never be hindered by it. Amos, Mike (5 April 2018). "Judge not lest thou be judged, but the column's still much impressed by Lady Hale". Bolton News. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019 . Retrieved 27 December 2019.

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Personally I found Lady Hale and her life very interesting indeed. Overall the book acts as a very interesting insight into both legal and social changes over more than half a century. My feeling is that people with an interest in society generally and the law in particular will be the ones who find this book most appealing. Others should find it worthwhile however the focus on the law and particular cases might make it less accessible to some. 3.5/5 After becoming an assistant law lecturer at the Victoria University of Manchester (now the University of Manchester) in 1966 and lecturer in 1968, she was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1969, topping the list in the bar finals for that year. [8] [9] [10] Lady Hale is a remarkable woman, who climbed to the top of the British legal system. She was a Law Lord until that position was abolished in 2009, became a member then president of the Supreme Court which succeeded the Law Lords, and a member of the Privy Council and Queen’s Council. Lady Hale came to countrywide prominence in 2019 when she ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was unlawful. We learned a new word – prorogation (the action of discontinuing a session of a parliament without dissolving it) – and glittering spider brooches (as worn by Lady Hale on that day) were sold out everywhere. It is a sad indictment of our society, that when confronted with a highly intelligent, powerful woman, making a very important pronouncement that could have major ramifications for the future of our country – we first notice what she is wearing, then wonder where we could get a brooch like that, then wonder if it had any specific hidden meaning pro/anti Boris (it didn’t!). We may forget her name – but not the brooch – hence the title of this book.

Spider Woman: A Life by Brenda Hale | Goodreads

On 12 January 2004, she was appointed the first female Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created a life peer as Baroness Hale of Richmond, of Easby in the County of North Yorkshire. [13] [14] Unlike in the USA, our Supreme Court justices are not household names, and are not political appointments. They also have a retirement age (currently 75). Lady Hale was the first Supreme court justice whose name I learned. For Americans, she is our Ruth Bader Ginsberg – though nowhere near as well known.I do have a large number of brooches,” she says, with an air of weary resignation that she should be answering questions about fashion accessories but also with an amused fascination that anyone should wish to discuss such things with her.

Spider Woman by Lady Hale | Waterstones Spider Woman by Lady Hale | Waterstones

a b c Stokel-Walker, Chris (24 September 2019). "Lady Hale, the gently determined president of the Supreme Court that overruled Boris Johnson". New Statesman . Retrieved 24 September 2019. In 2004, she joined the House of Lords as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. She is the only woman to have been appointed to that position. She served as a Law Lord until 2009 when she, along with the other Law Lords, transferred to the new Supreme Court as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. She served as Deputy President of the Supreme Court from 2013 to 2017. She is quite clear that the law should be paramount however, within that, she manages to look at laws through her own perspective. The fact that she is a rare female in this respect gives her views a different angle to others involved in the law. One thing that is quite clear almost from the start of her story is that she is a feminist. Maybe not in a radical sense but it is a fundamental part of her character.

I can express opinions to a much greater extent than was proper when I was a serving judge. But I’m also very conscious that I don’t want to make life difficult for my successors, who have a hard job to do, and that I don’t want to get involved in party political controversies, because I’m not a politician. I did not know the political affiliations of my colleagues on the supreme court and I think that’s a very good thing

Spider Woman by Lady Hale | Waterstones

Inevitably the issue ended up in the Supreme Court, which upheld the divisional court ruling. Three years later, in 2019, the supreme court had an even more loaded case to decide, and by then Hale was its president. She was sworn in as a Member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council in 1999, giving her the honorific title " The Right Honourable" for life. Being both a lawyer and a feminist, I was interested to read about Lady Hale's life. The most engaging parts of Spider Women for me were those exploring the judgements she made in landmark cases on issues such as domestic violence, mental health and divorce, but the book is written in such a way as to make it easily readable by those who are not legally trained. Lady Hales's discussion of the role that her gender played in these judgements was thought-provoking, and it was truly inspiring to read of someone managing to thrive in the face of so many barriers and outdated attitudes. I was thinking about other things – is my summary accurate enough, is it complete enough, how are we going to get through the day, are there going to be riots – not about spiders.” Beetle brooch, tattydevine.com. Vintage leaf and turquoise/gold tassel brooches, both susancaplan.co.uk. Knit, marksandspencer.com. Photograph: Kate Peters/The GuardianSlawson, Nicola (21 July 2017). "Brenda Hale to become first female president of supreme court – reports". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018 . Retrieved 24 September 2019. A highly recommended read for those who are interested in law, skip past the first few chapters if you aren't a history buff. It fell to the president to declare the verdict, and that day she selected one of several brooches her husband had given her. Her hands hovered over the butterfly, the bee, the frog, but eventually alighted on the spider. On 7 March 2019, Hale delivered the University of Cambridge Freshfields law lecture, which she entitled "Principle and Pragmatism in Developing Private Law". [30]