Dame Sarah Valerie Falk, (born 1 June 1962) is a British Court of Appeal judge. She was previously a High Court judge and senior Judicial Appointments Commissioner.

Career

Falk studied law at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

, and was admitted as a solicitor in 1986. Specialising in corporate tax she became a partner in

Freshfields Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (informally Freshfields, or FBD) is an multinational corporation, international law firm headquartered in London, and a member of the Magic Circle (law firms), Magic Circle. The firm has 28 offices in 17 jurisdi ...

in 1994, notably working on the corporate restructure of

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in 2011. During her career at Freshfields, Falk noted she experienced

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

despite being a

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

. In an interview, she said during her time there she would often be the only female attending meetings and male her colleagues in those meetings would demonstrate selective hearing, with a male colleague repeating a point she had made earlier which then would be treated as a good idea. In 2015 she was appointed as a deputy judge of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) having left Freshfields partnership while still working on a consultancy basis.

High Court appointment

On 1 October 2018 she was appointed as a High Court judge. On 1 October 2019, she was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner of the

Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland. Sy ...

. She retired from the post on 30 September 2022.

Court of Appeal appointment

Her appointment to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

was announced on 2 November 2022.

Personal life

Falk married Marcus Flint in 1985, she has one son and one daughter. She has an interest in classical music, dog walking and horse riding. She acted as chair of th
ProCorda Trust
a youth music organisation, between 2008 and 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falk, Sarah Chancery Division judges Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 1962 births Living people Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century English judges English women judges 21st-century women judges British lawyers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom