Dame Nerys Angharad Jefford, styled The Honourable Mrs Justice Jefford, DBE (born 25 December 1962) is a High Court Judge of England and Wales.

Early life

She was born in Swansea,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and educated at Olchfa School, and graduated from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1984, followed by an LLM from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

in 1985, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.

Career

Jefford was called to the Bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

in 1986, became a QC in 2008, and was appointed 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 2007. In addition to practice, Jefford contributed to ''Keating on Construction Contracts'' from the fifth edition in 1991 to the eighth edition in 2006.

High Court appointment

On 3 October 2016, she was appointed as a High Court judge, 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 ...

. She is currently the

Presiding Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

for Wales and sits on the

Technology and Construction Court 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 ...

. In July 2021, Jefford made legal history as part of the first all-female Court of Appeal panel in Wales, sitting alongside Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Mrs Justice Steyn.

Honours

In 2016, Jefford was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

References

Living people 1962 births Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University of Virginia School of Law alumni 21st-century English judges British barristers 21st-century King's Counsel People from Swansea Members of Gray's Inn {{UK-law-bio-stub