View source for 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              = [[Lord Justice of Appeal|Lady Justice of Appeal]]
| term_start          = 14 November 2022
| term_end            =
| monarch             = [[Charles III]]
| monarch2            = [[Elizabeth II]] <br/>
[[Charles III]]
| predecessor         =
| successor           =
| office2             = [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|High Court Judge]]<br>[[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)<ref name=":1">{{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 }}</ref> is a British [[Court of Appeal judge (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal judge]]. She was previously a [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|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 Bruckhaus Deringer|Freshfields]] in 1994, notably working on the corporate restructure of [[EMI]] in 2011.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>
During her career at Freshfields, Falk noted she experienced [[sexism]] despite being a [[Partner (business rank)|partner]]. 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
In 2015 she was appointed as a deputy judge of the [[Upper Tribunal#Tax and Chancery Chamber|Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber)]] having left Freshfields partnership while still working on a consultancy basis until 2018.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
=== High Court appointment ===
On 1 October 2018 she was appointed as a [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] judge.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{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}}</ref> She received the customary [[Order of the British Empire|Damehood]] in 2019.<ref name="thegazette.co.uk">{{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}}</ref>
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.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="thegazette.co.uk"/>
=== Court of Appeal and Privy Council appointment ===
Her appointment to the [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]] was announced on 2 November 2022.<ref>{{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}}</ref> On 14 December 2022 Falk was appointed to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]], entitling her to the style ''[[The Right Honourable]]'' for life.<ref name="14Dec22">{{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}}</ref>
== 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.<ref name=":1" />
She acted as chair of the [https://procorda.com/pro-corda/vision-history/vision/ ProCorda Trust], a youth music organisation, between 2008 and 2018.<ref name=":1" />
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Appeal judges in England & Wales}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falk, Sarah}}
[[Category:Chancery Division judges]]
[[Category:Lady Justices of Appeal]]
[[Category:Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:21st-century English judges]]
[[Category:English women judges]]
[[Category:21st-century women judges]]
[[Category:English solicitors]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:21st-century British women lawyers]]