The federal government has named the 52nd justice of the High Court of Australia.
When Justice Kenneth Hayne retires from the Court on 5 June this year, he will be replaced by Justice Michelle Gordon.
As with all appointments to the High Court of Australia, the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s department consulted widely with the legal community before naming Hayne J’s successor. In this case they needn’t have looked so far from home: Justice Gordon and Justice Hayne have been married for nearly 20 years.
Just in case you were wondering, it’s the first time in the High Court’s history that a judge has been succeeded by their spouse.
Justice Gordon has been a judge of the Federal Court of Australia since 2007, and has been a member of the Victorian Bar since 1992. Before that, she worked as a solicitor at Robinson Cox (now Clayton Utz) and Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks (now Allens).
When in practice, she specialised in commercial law, trade practices and taxation. During her time on the bench, she has been recognised for her contributions to the development of the law, in particular commercial law.
She holds both a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Jurisprudence from the University of Western Australia.
Justice Gordon will be sworn in on 9 June.
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