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Internationally recognised lawyer and academic James Edelman has been appointed a Judge of the High Court of Australia – one of the youngest-ever appointments to the High Court at the age of 42.

Justice Edelman was the youngest-ever judge appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2011 before being recruited last year to the Federal Court based in Brisbane.

Awarded a Bachelor of Laws degree, First Class Honours, from The University of Western Australia in 1997, Professor Edelman was named Western Australia's Rhodes Scholar in 1998. He also obtained a Bachelor of Economics from UWA in 1995.

He completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Law at Oxford University in 2001 and was also awarded a Master of Arts (Honorary) degree from Oxford in 2005.

Justice Edelman completed his articles of clerkship with Blake Dawson and was admitted to practice in 1998.

He practised as a barrister at the English Bar and at the WA Bar from the chambers of fellow UWA graduate and former WA governor Malcolm McCusker, QC.

Since 2002, Professor Edelman has lectured at universities in Australia, Britain, Europe and the United States.

In 2008, he was appointed Professor of the Law of Obligations at Oxford, becoming the youngest professor of law in the university's history.

Justice Edelman is an Adjunct Professor of Law at UWA and a Trustee of the McCusker Charitable Foundation, which established the McCusker Centre for Citizenship at The University of Western Australia. The centre is the first of its kind in Australia and part of UWA’s commitment to significantly expand community engagement.

Through the McCusker Centre for Citizenship, UWA students are exposed to critical community challenges and will actively help support those in need, while working to find solutions to social challenges.

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David Stacey (UWA Media Manager)                         (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716