After they were divorced in 2013, she married fellow Court of Appeal judge Sir Richard McCombe.

She specialised in family law and became a Queen's Counsel in 1994 and was appointed a deputy High Court judge in 1996 and a Recorder in 1999.

[5] It was announced on 21 July 2017 that Lady Justice Black would become the second female judge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, after The Baroness Hale of Richmond.

She took office on 2 October 2017, choosing the judicial courtesy title of Lady Black of Derwent.

[6] On 30 October 2020 it was announced that Lady Black of Derwent would retire as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 10 January 2021.