Family Law

The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) announced that seven top barristers make the step up from bar to bench. The seven candidates approved as High Court Judges are Frances Judd QC, Jennifer Eady QC, Alison Foster QC, John Cavanagh QC, Pushpinder Saini QC, Jeremy Johnson QC and Martin Chamberlain QC. Judd will sit in the Family Division, while all the rest have been assigned to the Queen’s Bench Division.

Frances Judd spent her childhood in Hong Kong and then Portugal, first attending school in Lisbon and then in Canterbury. She studied at Cambridge University and was the first member of her family to become a lawyer.

Frances was called to the Bar in 1984 and specialised in public and private law children’s cases including complex medical cases, sexual abuse, international and domestic relocation, adoption and surrogacy.

She was appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 2006, a Recorder in 2002 and a Deputy High Court Judge in 2011. She was Head of Chambers at Harcourt Chambers between 2009 and 2018, has been Chair of the Family Law Bar Association since 2018.

Frances is a judge of the Family Law Awards 2019.