Dame Florence Jacqueline Baron, DBE (7 October 1952 – 9 December 2013), judicially styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Baron, was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and High Court Judge.

Early life and education

Baron was born to Owsiej ("Jose") and Ellen Elizabeth Baron in

Kingsbury, London Kingsbury is a district of northwest London in the London Borough of Brent. Its ancient scope stretches to include various distinct areas that were once small villages until the inter-war period. Kingsbury was in 2001 a ward and in 2011 was ide ...

. The family emigrated to the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

a couple of years later and remained there until 1960 when they returned to London, then Jersey. Baron was educated at

Jersey College for Girls Jersey College for Girls (JCG, Jèrriais: ''Lé collège jèrriais pour les fil'yes'') is a government-run, fee-paying, academically selective

. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics and then law (changing subject after her first year) at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

. As an undergraduate she met her lifelong partner, John Pringle Nodwell Tonna, whom she did not marry until 29 January 2013 after she was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.

Legal career

Barrister

Baron was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1976 and became a QC in 1995. She specialised in matrimonial finance law at Queen Elizabeth Building (QEB) chambers, becoming the head of the chambers in 2000. In 1997, she was described by ''

The Lawyer ''The Lawyer'' is a legal business information product for law firm leaders, commercial lawyers, barristers and in-house counsel. It is based in London. History and profile ''The Lawyer'' was launched in 1987 by Centaur Media plc. It publ ...

'' magazine as "such a star, she is just excellent, and rated the highest. She is gutsy, thorough and very clever". Baron represented Jacqueline Cowan in her 2001 appeal against her divorce settlement. In the initial trial, Mrs Cowan had been awarded £1.7 million of her husband's £12 million. Following the appeal, Mrs Cowan's award was increased to £3 million. The case was one of the first examples of increased protection for 'business wives'.

Judge

Baron was made a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

in 1999. She was created a

Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

upon her appointment as a Justice of the High Court (Family Division) in 2004. One of Baron's notable cases as a judge is ''NG v KR'', in which she ruled that it would be unfair to enforce a pre-nuptial contract to restrict the amount of money a husband could claim from his wealthy heiress wife. Although she recognised that the pre-nuptial agreement would have been fully enforceable in Germany (where it was signed) or France, she held that pre-nups had never been legally binding in the United Kingdom. This approach was overruled by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 2010, which ruled that pre-nups could be taken into consideration in divorce proceedings.

Death

Baron died on 9 December 2013, aged 61, from cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Florence 1952 births 2013 deaths Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford British barristers British King's Counsel British women judges Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Family Division judges Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple 20th-century King's Counsel Place of death missing 20th-century British women lawyers People educated at the Jersey College for Girls 20th-century women judges