Dame Kathryn Mary Thirlwall, DBE (born 21 November 1957), styled The Rt Hon Lady Justice Thirlwall, is an English judge of the Court of Appeal, and since December 2019 is the

Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales The Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales is a member of the Court of Appeal appointed by the Lord Chief Justice to supervise the Presiding Judges for the various judicial circuits of England and Wales. The Senior Presiding Judge is respons ...

. She practised as a barrister from 1982, was a High Court judge from April 2010, and was promoted to the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to ...

in February 2017. Thirlwall was educated at St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy in Sunderland, and at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, and studied for the Common Professional Examination at Newcastle Polytechnic.‘THIRLWALL, Hon. Dame Kathryn (Mary)’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014 She was called to the bar at

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 ...

in 1982. She specialised in local authority education and abuse litigation. She became a QC in 1999, and served on the Professional Standards Committee of the

Bar Council {{see also, Bar association A bar council ( ga, Comhairle an Bharra) or bar association, in a common law jurisdiction with a legal profession split between solicitors and barristers or advocates, is a professional body that regulates the profes ...

from 1999 to 2005. She became head of chambers at 7 Bedford Row in 2006, and a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of Middle Temple in 2008. Thirlwall was appointed as an assistant recorder in 1998 and then as 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 2000. She was appointed as a High Court judge in April 2010, assigned to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

, and received the customary damehood. She was Presiding Judge of the Midlands Circuit from 2011 to 2015. She was promoted to the

in February 2017.Solicitors to judges
, The Times, 15 September 2016

Personal life

She is married to Professor Charles Kelly; they have two adult children.

References

1957 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of Northumbria University Members of the Middle Temple Queen's Bench Division judges British women judges Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Lady Justices of Appeal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom {{UK-law-bio-stub