Lady Jill Black is a graduate of Durham Law School from Trevelyan College. A specialist in family law, she became silk in 1994 and appointed to the High Court in 1999 becoming a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). She served as Family Division Liaison Judge to the Northern Circuit from 2000 to 2004 and in 2010 became Lady Justice of Appeal as well as appointed to the Privy Council. In 2017, she became only the second women to be appointed to the UK Supreme Court. Lady Black was awarded an Honorary Degree in 2022 to become a Doctor of Law at Durham University