Bobbie, photographed in the ICLR offices
It is with great sadness that we record the untimely death of law reporter Barbara (Bobbie) Scully.
Bobbie, who was born in 1962, read law at Keele University and was called to the Bar in Middle Temple in 1984.
She joined the ICLR in April 1987 and began her work as a law reporter in the Queen’s Bench Division before being promoted to more senior courts, and was eventually appointed as a reporter to the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (which in 2009 became the UK Supreme Court) and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Her death is a huge loss both for the quality of her law reporting and her contribution to the spirit of the organisation.
In addition, she was editor of The Times Law Reports from 2011, to which she had contributed regularly for many years, as well as to other publications. As treasurer of the High Court Journalists’ Association during the 1990s she helped organise dinners to promote good relations between the press and the judiciary, and educational trips to foreign jurisdictions to promote mutual understanding of different legal systems.
Bobbie had grown up in Wallasey and spent much of her time there in recent years, although for most of her life she lived and worked in London. Outside her professional life, she was an active member of CAMRA, and had acted as a bar manager at CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival each year since 2007. Her colleagues have shared many recollections of her friendliness, generosity, and dedication. Her sudden loss, aged 62, will be keenly felt by all who knew her.
Featured image: Bobbie photographed in the ICLR offices by The Times, reproduced with thanks.