Jason Raeburn, a senior associate and solicitor-advocate in the Intellectual Property department at the London office of Baker McKenzie, is set to become the youngest deputy master (sworn judge) in the High Court of England and Wales.
The 32-year-old lawyer, who is of Grenadian and Irish descent, graduated from the University of Bristol with an LLB in 2009 and then proceeded to Oxford University where he obtained a postgraduate diploma in Intellectual Property Law in 2014.
Raeburn specializes in “complex technology disputes, with a particular focus on copyright, patents, trade secrets and the global co-ordination of IP litigation strategies,” his company bio states. It adds that he has also “appeared as a lead advocate in complex appeal proceedings in the Court of Appeal, urgent injunction applications in the High Court and in specialist intellectual property tribunals.”
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According to The Times, Raeburn, who is yet to be sworn in, will serve in the Chancery Division of the High Court, with the judicial office saying he is believed to be the youngest person on record to be appointed as a deputy master.
A member of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) group in the United Kingdom’s legal system, Raeburn’s impending appointment comes in the wake of an official report cited by The Guardian that revealed that Blacks, Asians and other people from minority groups are more likely to be rejected when they apply to become a judge. It added that only 9% of people from the aforementioned groups were senior barristers.
A report from the Ministry of Justice also revealed that though Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people are “over-represented in applications for judicial appointment”, they are “less likely to be successful”.
