Lady Hale – författare

Lady Hale is an inspirational figure admired for her historic achievements and for the causes she has championed. Spider Woman is her story.As 'a little girl from a little school in a little village in North Yorkshire', she only went into the law because her headteacher told her she wasn't clever enough to study history. She became the most senior judge in the country but it was an unconventional path to the top.How does a self-professed 'girly swot' get ahead in a profession dominated by men? Was it a surprise that the perspectives of women and other disadvantaged groups had been overlooked, or that children's interests were marginalised? A lifelong smasher of glass-ceilings, who took as her motto 'women are equal to everything', her landmark rulings in areas including domestic violence, divorce, mental health and equality were her attempt to correct that.As President of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale won global attention in finding the 2019 prorogation of Parliament to be unlawful. Yet that dramatic moment was merely the pinnacle of a career throughout which she was hailed as a pioneering reformer.Wise, warm and inspiring, Spider Woman shows how the law shapes our world and supports us in crisis. It is the story of how Lady Hale found that she could overcome the odds, which shows that anyone from similar beginnings will find that they can cope too.

Lady Hale is an inspirational figure admired for her historic achievements and for the causes she has championed. Spider Woman is her story.As 'a little girl from a little school in a little village in North Yorkshire', she only went into the law because her headteacher told her she wasn't clever enough to study history. She became the most senior judge in the country but it was an unconventional path to the top.How does a self-professed 'girly swot' get ahead in a profession dominated by men? Was it a surprise that the perspectives of women and other disadvantaged groups had been overlooked, or that children's interests were marginalised? A lifelong smasher of glass-ceilings, who took as her motto 'women are equal to everything', her landmark rulings in areas including domestic violence, divorce, mental health and equality were her attempt to correct that.As President of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale won global attention in finding the 2019 prorogation of Parliament to be unlawful. Yet that dramatic moment was merely the pinnacle of a career throughout which she was hailed as a pioneering reformer.Wise, warm and inspiring, Spider Woman shows how the law shapes our world and supports us in crisis. It is the story of how Lady Hale found that she could overcome the odds, which shows that anyone from similar beginnings will find that they can cope too.

**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026*'A principled, timely and vital reminder of why justice matters' PHILIPPE SANDS'Accessible, forensic and breathtakingly humane' SHAMI CHAKRABARTITold through captivating real cases in real courts, the former President of the Supreme Court leads us on a deeply entertaining and vitally important top-to-bottom tour of the law in our land.Our laws and justice system might touch our lives when we have an accident, a wrong is done to us, or we have a family difficulty. They are vast, ancient and cover everything from the personal to the regulation of our government. But to most of us, they are a web of intimidating institutions and practices.Lady Hale – an inspirational figure admired for her historic achievements and activism – shows us how the law is on our side. Taking us into the complexities of real courts and real decisions, we see that we all have rights: schoolchildren, disabled people, workers, minorities and patients.Here are true stories from every part of the justice system, from lowly benefits tribunals and magistrates’ courts to the lofty heights of the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Bailey; stories about the dilemmas of deciding what is right and just, and which invite you to say where justice lies before knowing what the courts decided. We see first-hand how the people whose needs the law is designed to protect actually experience it.With the Law on Our Side is a citizen’s guidebook to the law in our land, a top-to-bottom tour with a supremely expert guide. In captivating stories, it tells us what the law is about, how it works and most importantly why we should all care about it.'Brenda Hale is a national treasure. If this country made any sense, we'd make this book part of the syllabus' IAN DUNT

Told through real cases in real courts, the former – and first woman – President of the Supreme Court leads us on a deeply entertaining and vitally important tour of the law in our land.'Principled, timely and vital' PHILIPPE SANDS'Powerful and urgent' FINANCIAL TIMES'If this country made any sense, we'd make this book part of the syllabus' IAN DUNTIf we are lucky, we’ll never have an accident, or be wronged, or face a family difficulty. But what if we do? How do we make sense of the justice system – this vast and arcane world – and ensure it is in our corner?Lady Hale, former President of the Supreme Court, takes us inside our courts to reveal how the law works in real time.From everyday tribunals to the lofty heights of the Royal Courts of Justice, and through powerful true stories of real cases and people, we share in the complexity of deciding what is right, feel the human drama of our legal system and learn what the law truly is. Ultimately, we see how the law serves everyone – and why we must care about it.'Everyone who cares about a fair and just society should read this book' SARAH LANGFORD'Informative, enjoyable and compelling' OBSERVER'Accessible, forensic and breathtakingly humane' SHAMI CHAKRABARTI‘A rallying cry for justice that is truly on our side’ CHERIE BLAIR KC** LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026 **

Brought to you by Penguin.**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026* Our laws and justice system are vast and ancient: they might touch our lives when we have an accident, a wrong is done to us, or we have a family difficulty. And they cover everything from the personal to the regulation of our government. But to most of us they are a web of intimidating institutions and practices.Lady Hale - former President of the Supreme Court and an inspirational figure admired for her historic achievements and for the causes she has championed - shows us how the law is on our side. Taking us into the complexities of real courts and real decisions, we see that we all have rights: schoolchildren, the disabled, workers, minorities and patients.Here are true stories from every part of the justice system, from lowly benefits tribunals and magistrates' courts to the lofty heights of the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Bailey; stories about the dilemmas of deciding what is right and just, which invite you to say where justice lies before knowing what the courts decided. From mundane situations to the dramatic and the extraordinary, we see how the people whose needs the law is designed to protect actually experience it.With The Law on Our Side is a citizen's handbook to the law in our land, a top-to-bottom tour with a supremely expert guide. In captivating stories, it tells us what the law is about, how it works and most importantly why we should all care about it.(c) Lady Hale 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Two expert thinkers tackle one of the most difficult and divisive issues of our times: assisted dying'Absolutely fantastic. It gives you a deep sense of the morality, the legality, the technicality. Invaluable' XAND VAN TULLEKEN'Nuanced and thoughtful' OBSERVERAs pressure grows to legalise assisted dying in the UK, this book illuminates the legal and ethical fault lines at the heart of the debate. Lady Hale, former president of the Supreme Court, argues that everyone should have the freedom to decide the time and manner of their own death. Drawing on real cases in real courts, she explores how the law might establish e­ffective safeguards while preserving an individual’s right to decide for themselves when their suffering becomes unbearable.Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, sits in opposition, contending that no such right can ever be absolute, or unqualified. He raises moral and practical concerns about the protection of vulnerable communities – especially those living with disabilities – the pressures facing an already overstretched NHS and the risk that assisted dying could become a substitute for properly funded palliative care.Both confront the decisions we all must face: who should be eligible for assisted dying; how should the programme be authorised; and what modern medicine could, and should, provide. Ultimately, they turn to a deeper challenge: how a public healthcare system can universally uphold dignity, and what it would truly mean to offer us all what we profoundly deserve – a good death.Published in conjunction with Intelligence Squared, the world’s leading curator of debate, this book is part of the Think Again series: short books that present two contrasting but equally persuasive views in a single volume

**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026*'A principled, timely and vital reminder of why justice matters' PHILIPPE SANDS'Accessible, forensic and breathtakingly humane' SHAMI CHAKRABARTITold through captivating real cases in real courts, the former President of the Supreme Court leads us on a deeply entertaining and vitally important top-to-bottom tour of the law in our land.Our laws and justice system might touch our lives when we have an accident, a wrong is done to us, or we have a family difficulty. They are vast, ancient and cover everything from the personal to the regulation of our government. But to most of us, they are a web of intimidating institutions and practices.Lady Hale – an inspirational figure admired for her historic achievements and activism – shows us how the law is on our side. Taking us into the complexities of real courts and real decisions, we see that we all have rights: schoolchildren, disabled people, workers, minorities and patients.Here are true stories from every part of the justice system, from lowly benefits tribunals and magistrates’ courts to the lofty heights of the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Bailey; stories about the dilemmas of deciding what is right and just, and which invite you to say where justice lies before knowing what the courts decided. We see first-hand how the people whose needs the law is designed to protect actually experience it.With the Law on Our Side is a citizen’s guidebook to the law in our land, a top-to-bottom tour with a supremely expert guide. In captivating stories, it tells us what the law is about, how it works and most importantly why we should all care about it.'Brenda Hale is a national treasure. If this country made any sense, we'd make this book part of the syllabus' IAN DUNT