Brief Encounter: Lady Justice Rafferty

Anne Rafferty is a Court of Appeal judge.  Having read Law at the University of Sheffield, she joined 4 Brick Court (now 9 Bedford Row).  Anne was the first female Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, and on taking silk in 1990 half of the first married couple to take silk together in the same year.

Tell us a bit about your daily professional life

I’m at my desk and working by 0600 and packing up about 1900/1930 or later. I don’t break for lunch. I can be sitting in the CACD or the Divisional Court or civil. I chair the Judicial College and am Vice Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission and both mean a lot (A LOT) of reading and preparation and meetings.

Best advice you’ve been given

Keep asking “Why?”.

Don’t speak for the sake of speaking.

Be polite and warm: you need them on the way up because you need them on the way down.

What motivates you?

My upbringing taught me to use my skills for the advantage of others.

What non-negotiable skills are needed to succeed in the Law?

Brains, resilience, guts, charm. In reverse order.

Most memorable legal moment

“You’re going to the Court of Appeal”

Best courtroom or chambers etiquette tip

Be polite until your dying breath. The worse their manners, the finer yours. And in a jury trial there are twelve people to watch you doing it.

Which mentor, people or events have inspired you, supported you, or changed your approach?

Sir Christopher Rose, formerly Rose LJ; he is kind, funny, clever, direct, wise.

His judgements were unappealable: they appeared to be delivered effortlessly, hit every essential issue and eschewed the balance, and are literate joys. He had time for me, when I was a whippersnapper, and gave me confidence I’d never have had without him. Also tall and handsome.

Looking back, is there anything you’d have done differently?

Worried less. Not everything is automatically my fault. Nor do I need to be perfect.

How do you relax?

Sea swimming. If relax be the word.

 

Anne Rafferty graduating from the University of Sheffield