About Linda Dobbs
Dame Linda Penelope Dobbs, DBE (born 3 January 1951) is a retired High Court judge in England and Wales, who served from 2004 to 2013. Dobbs was the first non-white person to be appointed to the senior judiciary of England and Wales. == Biography == Linda Penelope Dobbs was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Arthur Ernest Dobbs, and his wife, Loyda Dobbs (née Johnson). Loyda Johnson was a Creole from Sierra Leone and Arthur Dobbs was an English lawyer originally from Warwickshire, who went on to serve as a High Court judge in Sierra Leone. == Education == Dobbs was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independent school for girls, near the market town of Oswestry in Shropshire, followed initially by the University of Edinburgh, where she read music but left after a year. She then attended the University of Surrey, where she studied Russian and law, graduating in 1976. She went on to the London School of Economics, where she obtained a master's degree, followed by a doctorate in Soviet criminology and penology. == Life and career == Dobbs was called to the Bar in 1981, practising from 5 King's Bench Walk, the chambers of the then Attorney general Sir Michael Havers, QC. She had a mixed criminal practice, in later years specialising in fraud and professional disciplinary tribunals, including the General Medical Council and the General Dental Council. She took silk in 1998. She was a member of the General Council of the Bar and chaired its Professional Standards Committee and Race Relations Committee.
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