English judges were once public figures as a matter of course. For successful Victorian lawyers, elevation to the bench meant not only the customary knighthood and lifelong employment, but also a caricature in Vanity Fair and a certain but indefinite place in the consciousness of the public, for whom reading reports of legal proceedings was a normal pastime.

As the law became more technical, and therefore something of a closed book to even the intelligent layman, judicial celebrity became a thing of the past. Almost no judge after the Second World War achieved the status of household name. The only truly famous judge of the period was Lord Denning, and even his star faded as he began to muse about black people and Jews in old age.

Today, just two judges (both retired) can claim any real public profile. There is Baroness Hale of Richmond, who allegedly told her nonplussed colleagues that ‘I am world famous’ when they asked her why she should become the Supreme Court’s deputy president. And there is Jonathan Sumption, the cover of