Brends Hale takes up her post as Britain's first female Law Lord on Monday. She talks to Women's Editor Christen Pears about wigs, women judges and her hopes for reform.

BRENDA Hale has been described as many things - radical, outspoken, a "dangerous" feminist - and it's with some trepidation that I ring her doorbell. I'm expecting a bit of a dragon but my fears turn out to have been misplaced; half an hour later, I'm sitting in her front room, drinking tea and learning how to keep a judge's wig in place using Kirby grips.

Lady Justice Hale's appointment to the Lords Appeal in Ordinary, better known as the Law Lords, made history when it was announced in October, marking the end of centuries of male domination in the country's highest court.

The diminutive 58-year-old is far removed from the traditional image of a senior judge - an eccentric old man, arrogant and out of touch. Instead, she's warm, witty, full of common sense and although fiercely intelligent, she wears her learning lightly.

She takes up her post on Monday, and although she has been a judge in the Court of Appeal for the last four years, the prospect fills her with both excitement and a certain amount of dread.

"Of course I'm pleased to have been appointed but it's quite a frightening prospect. The job I've been doing for the last four years is challenging enough. This will be even more challenging," she says with characteristic modesty.

News of her appointment was greeted enthusiastically by campaigners for judicial reform and, as the first Law Lady, she is carrying a lot of hopes.

"There are so many people who are expecting things from me. There are women lawyers, women generally, people who know me from the north of England. It's quite daunting."

But whether she alone will be able to bring about change remains to be seen.

"All judges say we are judges first, and our gender, background and history come second to that. But it would be very surprising if, approaching some issues, we are not informed by our own experiences.

"If you talk to some feminist legal scholars, they would say there is a gender perspective on almost all areas of the law, even the most dry, commercial areas, but the main difference is, of course, having a woman there. It becomes harder for people to carry on in certain sorts of ways and the atmosphere changes. It must also make a difference to the litigants and the public to see that there is a diversity amongst the people who are doing the job."

Lady Justice Hale was born in North Yorkshire to parents who were both teachers. She still regards Richmond as home, and when she's not in London she lives on the edge of town in a large house she shares with her second husband, Professor Julian Farrand, QC. Her step-daughter and family live next door.

She's proud of her Yorkshire roots and quick to acknowledge the debt she owes to her teachers at Richmond High School for Girls. They nurtured her academic talent, encouraging her to read law at Girton College, Cambridge, where she took a starred first. From Cambridge, she moved to Manchester University, where she began lecturing in law.

During the early years, she practised part-time as a barrister but realised she would only progress if she concentrated on one aspect of her career. She chose academia, she says, because she had a daughter and it was much more "family friendly".

"A lot of women lawyers do face barriers and prejudices simply because they are women but you have to get on with it and do the best you can. Because of my academic background, I have had a very unusual career which probably means that I have had fewer barriers than those who follow a more conventional route."

Long hours and the fact barristers are self-employed make it very difficult for women to achieve a decent work-life balance. Those who want to concentrate on their family often miss out at work and consequently, very few women are reaching the level where they become candidates for the top judging jobs.

Lady Justice Hale believes the situation can and must improve and looks to Canada, where the legal system is similar to the British one, as an example.

"Measures have already been taken to increase the number of women in the judiciary and one of the things they looked at was the assumptions about who is suitable for which sort of job. In this country, it has been assumed that only people who have been top barristers can become top judges, but it would be surprising if they were the only people who would make good judges. There are plenty of other ways of learning the law, learning to be fair and make good judgement - all the things you need to be a good judge."

She would also like to see more family friendly recruitment and career structures, as well as a change in attitude.

Over the years she has made her views clear about some of the archaic practices of the judiciary. She has criticised the customs at judges' lodgings which, she says, are run like gentlemen's residences between the wars. After formal dinners, women are often asked to withdraw so the men can enjoy cigars and port, a practice that has "deeply affronted" her.

"Most modern women don't approve but this is the way it has always been done and it becomes quite hard to change things because you don't want to be impolite or cause trouble."

But while Lady Justice Hale seems to have no qualms about 'causing trouble', she's so diplomatic I can only imagine her doing it in the politest manner.

And she certainly isn't in favour of change for change's sake; her reasons are well thought out and valid.

"I'm not against tradition and dressing up for formal occasions. We all do that whether it's a degree ceremony or a wedding. I don't object to court dress in the sense of having something to mark the judiciary and advocates from others, but I do think the time has come to give up wearing wigs.

"People have this image of the judiciary as being fuddy duddy, out of touch old men, and one of the reasons is that they insist on wearing 18th century wigs that make everyone look like an old man - women as well."

Lady Justice Hale served on the Law Commission from 1984 to 1993, the government's watchdog on law reform. She was a key figure in the Family Law Act 1996, which proposed the no-fault divorce, but was rejected by MPs who feared the reforms undermined marriage. She also supports legally recognised gay partnerships and gay adoption, as well as better rights for cohabitees - all of which has made her a target for the right-wing press.

She shrugs it off. "Everyone gets criticised for something," she says - and the fact she is married gives the lie to the assumption that she is anti-marriage.

She will be the first Law Lord for many years with first-hand knowledge of family work and says she would be very surprised if there was a family law case where she didn't sit, or one with an obvious women's angle.

"Being a woman doesn't necessarily make a difference when you're making judgements but we are different and it's that, more than anything else that will make a difference."