Considering judicial appointment? A seminar for Government Legal Department lawyers
Practical guidance drawn from judicial experience
Legal professionals from the Government Legal Department are warmly invited to join this online seminar, which will explore a judicial career through the experiences of judges who have made that journey themselves.
The Judicial Diversity and Inclusion Strategy seeks to encourage talented legal professionals from diverse personal and professional backgrounds to consider a judicial career and to feel confident that they can thrive within the judiciary. In that context, we particularly hope that legal professionals from backgrounds that are currently less well represented inthe judiciary will join us, but all are welcome.
Speakers
Kathryn Shakespeare, District Judge. Kathryn qualified as a solicitor in a large City firm before joining what was then the Government Legal Service. She spent the majority of her career as a GLD advisory lawyer, in a variety of roles at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Exiting the European Union. She also spent nearly three years at the Attorney General’s office, advising on domestic legislation and public law issues. Prior to her permanent judicial appointment she was the head of legal at the Judicial Office and legal adviser to the Lady Chief Justice.
Kathryn was appointed as a fee-paid Judge in the First-tier tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber in 2020 and as a District Judge in 2024, so has experienced the recruitment process as a GLD lawyer. She now hears civil claims in the County Court and immigration and asylum appeals in the first-tier tribunal.
Angela Shields, Acting Regional Tribunal. Judge Angela qualified as a solicitor in 2000, having trained with a high street practice specialising in civil litigation. The first person in her family to attend university and to enter the legal profession, she joined a commercial law practice in 2002 and subsequently became a partner in 2013. She practised in commercial employment law for almost two decades, advising and representing clients across a wide range of workplace disputes and litigation.
Angela was appointed as a salaried District Tribunal Judge in the Social Security and Child Support jurisdiction of the Social Entitlement Chamber in April 2020, having had no previous fee paid judicial experience. She was appointed Deputy Regional Tribunal Judge in 2022 and became Acting Regional Tribunal Judge for the South East region in September 2025. In her current judicial role, she has leadership responsibility for over 300 judicial office holders in the South East and hears appeals in relation to social security and child support.
Additional speaker
We will also be joined by a representative from the Judicial Appointments Commission, who will share up-to-date information about the application process and answer common questions.
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