Reviewed By: James G. Apple, Editor-in-Chief,
International Judicial Monitor, and President, International Judicial Academy
Biographies inspire inspiration. Or perhaps it is better to
say, in a more formal, less repetitive way, that biographies create, stimulate,
activate, prompt, kindle or nourish inspiration. In looking back over a
life-time of reading, some of the most treasured books that I have read have been
biographies. One of the tomes that I rate high on my list of all time great
books is a biography of the Great Chief Justice, John Marshall by Jean Edward
Smith, a noted academic and writer of biographies. I recently had occasion to
hear Professor Smith speak at a private gathering in Washington, and was able
to tell him that his Marshall biography was the best biography I have ever
read.
Although this biography of the first woman Queen’s Counsel
(QC) and British judge, Rose Heilbron, written by her daughter who is in her
own right a distinguished barrister in Great Britain, perhaps does not rise as
high in my estimation as the Marshall biography, it nevertheless is an
inspiring story of a very talented woman who overcame many obstacles to achieve
a unique place in the history of the legal profession in her country. Although
Heilbron is not exactly a household name in the U.S. – probably very few people
have ever heard of her - this account of her life will definitely inspire,
especially among young women on both sides of the Atlantic who aspire to make
their mark in the law. That it is a significant book is demonstrated by the
Introduction, written by Cherie Blair, wife of the former British Prime
Minister and also a practicing barrister.
Rose Heilbron was born during an inauspicious time – two
weeks after the beginning of World War I, when England declared war on Germany.
At an early age she demonstrated an aptitude for acting and oratory, which
naturally steered her toward the theatre or the law. She ultimately chose the
latter. However the circumstances of her birth encumbered her prospects for
success at the bar. She was born and raised in Liverpool, well outside the law
center that was London at the time, with its Royal Courts of Justice at the
busy intersection where The Strand meets Fleet Street. She attended the
University of Liverpool, which had an excellent law school but was a so-called
“red brick” university, and definitely not of the same reputation as Oxford and
Cambridge, the traditional training ground for barristers who “take silk”
(become Queen’s Counsel) and those who are later promoted to the judiciary. She was Jewish, at a time when there were pockets of anti-semitism in British society, including probably among those who occupied high places in the legal profession. Finally she was a woman, which perhaps provided the biggest obstacle to her success at the bar. There had been very few women barristers in the long history of the English courts (over 700 years). The first woman barrister was not admitted until 1921.
There were other aspects of her person that would
undoubtedly help her. She had taken a first class honours degree at the
University of Liverpool, proving that she was well endowed with the necessary
mental capacity to succeed. She was also very attractive. In the words of her
daughter:
But what of Rose the girl? She was always
pretty, with her long cascades of black curls, but as she developed
into a young woman; this useful prettiness became a natural beauty
enhanced by a wonderful smile. She possessed a remarkably
small waist which; which enhanced her slender figure.
There was one other characteristic that helped her in her
ambition to succeed, which developed as she entered the practice of law – her
almost total devotion to it. After a pupillage at Gray’s Inn, one of the four
“Inns of Court” that are used as training academies for barristers (who argue
cases in court – as opposed to solicitors, who most often have purely office
practices) she was called to the bar on May 2, 1939. Her entry into law
practice, as well as her university training, which included studying for and
receiving a Master of Laws (LLM) degree, occurred during the Great Depression,
which made finding a place to begin her legal life especially difficult. But
she soon was admitted to another “pupillage,” this time in a Liverpool barrister’s
chambers soon after taking and passing the bar exam, becoming the youngest
barrister in English history. As her daughter noted, she entered the legal
profession in the same way as she entered the world, on another “inauspicious
occasion” - the outbreak of the Second World War.
One major quality of Rose Heilbron that was particular
important in her rise to prominence was her devotion to her clients, their
cause, and to the law. Her daughter provides in the book several anecdotes that
demonstrate this quality. One of these arose when she was a junior barrister.
At that time junior barristers generally accompanied senior counsel to the
courts and only assisted in the prosecution or defense of a case. A junior
barrister was supposed to be seen and not heard. In one case arising out of an
alleged false imprisonment, which involved an appeal from an adverse decision
in the trial court, the senior barrister arguing for the client was not well
acquainted with the case or the important points of law important to it. When
the senior counsel finished, as was customary the presiding judge of the three
judge panel inquired of junior counsel, who was Rose, whether she would like to
speak. Usually this inquiry comes only as a courtesy and the offer is declined.
Rose, however, realized that the case was almost lost and subverted tradition
by advising the court that she wished to speak. According to the narrative in
the book, “she spoke for one and a half hours, turning the case around and
winning the appeal for the client.”
International
Judicial Monitor