John Jordan is an Irish judge who has served as a Judge of the High Court since February 2019. He was previously practiced as a

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 ...

Early life

Jordan is from

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal poi ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, where he attended secondary school at St Gerald's College. He studied law at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

and at the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

Legal career

He 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 ...

in 1985 and became a

senior counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

in 2011. His practice encompassed criminal law and private law, including in the areas of contract law, tort law, and property law. In criminal trials, he acted for both the defence and on behalf of the

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

in matters involving sexual offences, road traffic offences, fraud, and homicide. He acted for the DPP in the prosecution of Pádraig Nally and subsequent appeal arising out of the

death of John Ward On 14 October 2004, Pádraig Nally, an Irish farmer living in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland shot dead Irish Traveller John "Frog" Ward, who had been trespassing on his property. In November 2005 Nally was sentenced to six years' imprisonment f ...

Judicial career

Jordan became a judge of the High Court in February 2019. He has been the presiding judge in cases involving injunctions, company law, and family and child law. He is the judge in charge of the Family List of the High Court.

References

Living people People from Castlebar People educated at St Gerald's College, Castlebar High Court judges (Ireland) Irish Senior Counsel Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of King's Inns Year of birth missing (living people) Lawyers from County Mayo 20th-century Irish lawyers 21st-century Irish judges {{Ireland-law-bio-stub