Sir David Roderick Lessiter Bodey (born 14 October 1947) is a British judge who was a Justice of the High Court of

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

Legal career

Bodey was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, where he was a Harmsworth scholar, in 1970. He became legal assessor to the UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (now the

Nursing and Midwifery Council The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the regulator for nursing and midwifery professions in the UK. The NMC maintains a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses and nursing associates eligible to pra ...

in 1983. He was appointed an Assistant

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

in 1989, and became a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1991. He became a Recorder in 1993, and was appointed as a Deputy High Court judge from 1995. That same year (1995), he became a fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a member of the Family Committee of Justice (serving until 1998), was appointed to the Supreme Court (now Senior Courts) Procedure Committee (serving until 1997), and became secretary of the Family Law Bar Association. He was the Association's president in 1997. Bodey was appointed Director of Family Training for the Judicial Studies Board, and continues in that role for the Board's successor, the

Judicial College The Judicial College, formerly the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), established in 1979, is the organisation responsible for training judges in county, the Crown, and higher courts in England and Wales and tribunal judges in England and Wales, Scotla ...

. On 12 January 1999, Bodey was appointed to the High Court, receiving the customary

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, and assigned to the

Family Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

. He served as Family Liaison Judge for London from 1999 to 2001, then for the North Eastern Circuit until 2007. He retired from the bench on 15 October 2017.

References

1947 births Living people People educated at The King's School, Canterbury 20th-century English judges Family Division judges Knights Bachelor 21st-century English judges {{UK-law-bio-stub