Description
An interview with hilary heilbron kc
Rose Heilbron QC (later Dame Rose Heilbron), was an English barrister, who became a world famous icon of the 1950s and 1960s. She was one of the two first women King's Counsel (later Queen's Counsel) in 1949 and the first woman senior Judge in England in 1956 when she became Recorder of Burnley. This biography, written by her daughter Hilary, also a barrister and King's Counsel, charts her rise to prominence and success against the odds, excelling as an advocate and lawyer and later as only the second female High Court Judge in a career spanning nearly 50 years. She broke down many barriers with a string of firsts in the legal profession. She became a pioneer for women at the English Bar and for women generally, championing many women's causes in an era when it was not fashionable to do so.
The biography highlights her role as an inspiring and successful defence advocate in many famous and fascinating cases as well as in cases of great legal importancein a very different era. These include various
murder trials at a time of capital punishment, the Cameo murder case in 1950; the Bootle Bath murder; the murder
trial of Devlin and Burns, as
well as many other famous cases such as the representation of the
striking Liverpool Dockers in a case of national importance; the defence of the
notorious London gangster, Jack Spot; and the representation, in an early
anti-discrimination case, of the world renowned cricketer, (Lord) Learie Constantine.
Also chronicled is the wide range of other legal and non-legal activities she undertook as a result of her fame, including the promotion women’s rights and law reform and, when a High Court Judge, her appointment by the government in 1975 to chair an Advisory Committee on Rape.
With the added insights and recollections of her daughter, the biography portrays a multi-dimensional picture of the young and beautiful Rose Heilbron - barrister, judge, working wife and mother - who not only managed to combine these public and private roles in an era when to do so was extremely rare, but who did so with the combination of warmth, flair and determination which was to make her an internationally acclaimed role model for women.
This first and authorised biography of the remarkable Rose Heilbron will be of interest to a general audience as well as to lawyers.
ROSE QC: The Remarkable Story of Rose Heilbron: Trailblazer and Legal Icon
Contributors
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Hilary Heilbron KC
Hilary Heilbron KC is a barrister and King’s Counsel practising from Brick Court Chambers, London. She is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn, one of the four English Inns of Court.
She now focuses on sitting as an International Arbitrator all over the world. She has been appointed in over 125 arbitrations, many as Chair, with a range of different applicable laws, seats and subject matters, both ad hoc and under many different institutional rules.
Before focusing on sitting as an arbitrator she acted as counsel in major commercial cases in which capacity she represented a wide range of national and international clients, appearing as leading counsel in the English Commercial Court and international arbitrations, as well as in the Supreme Court, the House of Lords and the Privy Council. She has the relatively rare experience of having been a Department of Trade and Industry Inspector in a DTI inquiry into a major public company. She also advised and represented international celebrities and other well-known people in defamation cases.
Over her career, she has been a member of or held a position in many legal and commercial committees and councils, including Chair of the International Practice Committee of the Bar Council, Chair of the Independent Working Party into Civil Justice set up jointly by General Council of the Bar and the Law Society, Vice-Chair of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, and Chair of the City Disputes Panel. More recently she has been a member of various international task forces on current topics in international arbitration.
She has spoken and written extensively on international arbitration and cross-border litigation and is the author of A Practical Guide to International Arbitration in London (Informa, 2008) as well as the above biography of her mother Rose QC. Learn more about Hilary here.