Mahla Liane Pearlman AO (2 June 1937 – 2 December 2011) was an Australian lawyer and chief judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales from 1992 to 2003.
[1] Pearlman was admitted as a solicitor on 11 March 1960 and in 1981 became the first woman President of the Law Society of New South Wales.
In 1992 Pearlman was the first woman appointed the Chief Judge of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court.
The appointment of a solicitor to such a high judicial position was controversial at a time when most judges had previously been barristers.
[2] In January 1985 Pearlman was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the legal profession, particularly the New South Wales Law Society.