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Anon 14:33, no I don't think that is right.

True that may be more the norm nowadays. However the first ever solicitor appointee, Michael Sachs, was from Slater Heelis in Manchester. The third solicitor appointee, Henry Hodge, was from Hodge Jones & Allen.

Aside from being one of only six solicitors ever appointed to the High Court Bench two things stand out:

- as stated, she is the first female solicitor to be appointed*, and
- she is the first non-litigation solicitor to be appointed

The second of these is especially noteworthy given concerns about a perceived bias in the JAC processes towards advocacy and litigation skills.

One barrier which still remains for solicitors is that (unlike the great majority of their barrister equivalents) only one of the six, Lawrence Collins, was appointed directly from practice. The other five were all promoted from within the salaried judiciary.

*(Mrs Justice Whipple does not really count amongst the numbers; yes she started out as a solicitor but she converted to the Bar after a few years and was there for many years before her appointment to the Bench).