ROBERT French has become the first Western Australian to be appointed chief justice of the High Court of Australia in the court’s 107-year history. Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland described Justice French as a leading jurist and lawyer of great expertise. “He is widely published on a number of topics, he is regarded as a constitutional law expert, he is regarded highly in his expertise to administrative law,” Mr McClelland told reporters. A former justice of the Federal Court, Justice French has also served as chairman of the Town Planning Appeal Tribunal of WA, as a member of the Law Reform and Legal Aid Commissions of WA and as an associate member of the Trade Practices Commission.