Sarah Falk
{{Short description|British court of appeal judge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = Lady Justice Falk
| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DBE}}
| image = File:SarahFalk_Judge.jpg
| caption = Falk in 2022
| office = Lady Justice of Appeal
| term_start = 14 November 2022
| term_end =
| monarch = Charles III
| monarch2 = Elizabeth II
| predecessor =
| successor =
| office2 = High Court Judge
Chancery Division
| term_start2 = 1 October 2018
| term_end2 = 2022
| nationality = British
| birthname = Sarah Valerie Falk
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|06|01|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
}}
Dame Sarah Valerie Falk, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DBE|PC}} (born 1 June 1962){{Cite web |title=Falk, Hon. Dame Sarah (Valerie), (born 1 June 1962), a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, since 2018 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-291379 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO |year=2019 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U291379|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 }} 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, and was admitted as a solicitor in 1986. Specialising in corporate tax she became a partner in Freshfields in 1994, notably working on the corporate restructure of EMI in 2011.{{Cite web|url=https://1attorneys.net/freshfields-and-ao-veterans-among-five-new-high-court-judges/|title=Freshfields and A&O veterans among five new High Court judges|date=2018-10-01|website=1 Attorneys|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128201351/https://1attorneys.net/freshfields-and-ao-veterans-among-five-new-high-court-judges/|archive-date=28 January 2020|access-date=2020-01-26}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-commissioner-appointed-to-the-judicial-appointments-commission|title=New Commissioner appointed to the Judicial Appointments Commission|last=|first=|date=|website=GOV.UK|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316213744/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-commissioner-appointed-to-the-judicial-appointments-commission|archive-date=16 March 2020|access-date=2020-03-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/high-court-judge-appointments/|title=High Court Judge Appointments|last=|first=|date=15 November 2019|website=www.judiciary.uk|language=en-GB|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128201234/https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/high-court-judge-appointments/|archive-date=28 January 2020|access-date=2020-01-26}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/high-court-judges-2018#Sarah%20Falk|title=High Court Judges 2018 {{!}} Judicial Appointments Commission|last=|first=|date=|website=www.judicialappointments.gov.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203005118/https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/high-court-judges-2018|archive-date=3 December 2019|access-date=2020-01-26}}
During her career at Freshfields, Falk noted she experienced sexism despite being a partner. In an interview, she said during her time there she would often be the only female attending meetings and her male 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.{{Cite web|date=2019-10-04|title=Sarah Falk Biography|url=https://first100years.org.uk/sarah-falk-biography/|access-date=2020-06-17|website=First 100 Years}}
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 until 2018.
= High Court appointment =
On 1 October 2018 she was appointed as a High Court judge.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-10-01 |title=Freshfields and A&O veterans among five new High Court judges |url=https://lawyerfirmnews.com/2018/10/01/freshfields-and-ao-veterans-among-five-new-high-court-judges/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128201147/https://lawyerfirmnews.com/2018/10/01/freshfields-and-ao-veterans-among-five-new-high-court-judges/ |archive-date=28 January 2020 |access-date=2019-12-10 |website=Lawyer firms NEWS |language=en-US}} She received the customary Damehood in 2019.{{Cite web |title=Warrants Under the Royal Sign Manual {{!}} The Gazette |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3414951 |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=www.thegazette.co.uk}}
On 1 October 2019, she was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner of the Judicial Appointments Commission. She retired from the post on 30 September 2022.
= Court of Appeal and Privy Council appointment =
Her appointment to the Court of Appeal was announced on 2 November 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/commissioner/mrs-justice-sarah-falk-judicial|title=Mrs Justice Sarah Falk (judicial) {{!}} Judicial Appointments Commission|last=|first=|date=|website=www.judicialappointments.gov.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128201015/https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/commissioner/mrs-justice-sarah-falk-judicial|archive-date=28 January 2020|access-date=2019-12-10}} On 14 December 2022 Falk was appointed to the Privy Council, entitling her to the style The Right Honourable for life.{{cite web|url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-12-14-List-of-Business.pdf|publisher=Privy Council Office|title=Orders for 14 December 2022|access-date=30 December 2022}}
Personal life
References
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{{Appeal judges in England & Wales}}
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Category:Chancery Division judges
Category:Lady justices of appeal
Category:Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Category:21st-century English judges
Category:21st-century women judges
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom