Family and Chancery specialists appointed as High Court judges

Senior Circuit Judge Sonia Harris has been appointed a High Court judge, assigned to the Family Division.

The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary said Ms Justice Harris would be “able to draw on both her academic experience as a former lecturer at Durham University and Professor of Law at the University of Birmingham, as well as her significant judicial experience, including that gained through her role as a Designated Family Judge”.

Ms Justice Harris was called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 1998. She was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2010, a District Judge in 2014 and a Circuit Judge in 2018. In 2024, she was appointed as a Senior Circuit Judge.

She will take up appointment on 30 September 2024.

Also appointed to the High Court is Nicholas Thompsell, of counsel at law firm FieldFisher.

He will be assigned to the Chancery Division, “where he will bring nearly 40 years of experience as a solicitor and five years of judicial experience as a Deputy High Court Judge to his role”.

Mr Justice Thompsell was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1985. He was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2019.

He will take up appointment on 1 October 2024.

The appointments will fill vacancies in the High Court following elevations to the Court of Appeal and confirmed retirements.