Frances Gibb, legal editor of The Times, has an interesting piece on The Judiciary. She starts her article with these words: “It 
carries a knighthood, prestige and authority. But it is seen as lonely, fusty and male-dominated, with a culture of “male self-confidence and intellectual posturing. The world of the High Court judge, say some women City solicitors, is “even more antediluvian than City commercial law practice”.
It seems that not all is rosy on the High Court bench; the drop in salary, the loss of independence, the lonely existence, the heavy workload. It is an interesting insight into current thinking about recruitment for the senior judiciary. Times have changed. Lawyers are tending to have families later in life and at a time when appointment to the bench is a possibility many senior members of the Bar (Still the main recruiting ground for the High Court bench) are in the midst of bringing up children, paying school fees and the like. The £166,000 paid to a High Court judge does not compare well with the higher earnings available to senior lawyers in certain fields of legal practice at the top of their game.
A female Silk also has a rather robust and honest viewpoint from her perspective..
“It’s a very jolly life NOT being a judge. Getting loads of money, making jokes and doing really interesting work. You do really unusual, fascinating things working with people you like. There is lots of flexibility, long holidays, no bureaucracy. Why would you stop?” Woman QC
Times, Monday 11 January 2009
It is surprisingly difficult to take a photograph of oneself with a mobile phone. Ordinarily, of course, I wouldn’t do this…. but having grown a *mustache* (US spelling) over the Christmas period after yet another surreal discussion on Twitter with friends, I asked, apropos of 
nothing last night as I sank my third glass of Rioja, if fellow Twitterers would like to see my *tache*. They did. So rather than use the camera on my iMac, I nipped into the bathroom with the mobile phone. The result is a picture of a mildly deranged man with a tache.
I’m often asked if I look like my “Charon pic”. Clearly, I don’t. Maybe I should look like the ‘avatar’? Maybe my life would be better if I did? Who knows? I don’t… and there is little, short of an expensive trip to a plastic surgeon in Harley Street, that I can do about it at this time in my life.
More to follow on the blogging front later in thre day. It is 6.15 am and I have to update Insite Law and change into a dinner jacket to read the news for my daily news podcast….. until later….
John Bolch over at Family Lore has been very busy. Not only has he created a Pageflakes page for Family Law blogs (useful), he has set up a discussion board on his new Family Lore Focus website – a growing (and serious) resource for family lawyers and those interested in family law. Try the discussion board out.
Charon QC 