Declared medically unfit for military service during World War I, Birkett used the time to make up for his late entry into the legal profession and was appointed a King's Counsel in 1924.

Described as "one of the most prominent Liberal barristers in the first half of the 20th century" and "the Lord Chancellor that never was",[1] Birkett was noted for his skill as a speaker, which helped him defend clients with almost watertight cases against them.

Norman was born in Ulverston, Lancashire (now part of the administrative county of Cumbria), on 6 September 1883 to Thomas Birkett, a draper, and his wife Agnes, who died in 1884 of tuberculosis.

[6] In his second year, he was elected to the Emmanuel Debating Society Committee and spoke many times at the Union on subjects including Home Rule for Ireland, cruelty to animals and secular education.

[10] While there, he continued his political work and spoke on behalf of the Liberal Party, cementing his reputation as an effective speaker by, on one occasion, holding the attention of more than a thousand people for an hour.

[19] After qualifying as a barrister, he moved to Birmingham in 1914, choosing the city because he had some connections there thanks to his association with Cadbury,[20] and began work at the chambers of John Hurst.

[28] His speech was well-received; the Nottingham Journal described it as making "a most excellent impression" on the House of Commons, and Charles Masterman called him "a possible future Lord Chancellor".

His promotion was met with approval from several noted judges, including Arthur Greer, later a Lord Justice of Appeal, who wrote that "unless my judgement is very much astray, you will quickly acquire a leading place in the front row", a feeling which was echoed by other justices including William Finlay, who wrote that "I am confident that you will rise to the top of the profession, and I shall very greatly rejoice when my confidence is justified.

The Conservative candidate, Edmund Brocklebank, was much stronger than in the previous election, and the left-wing vote was split because he was also campaigning against Tom Mann, a noted Communist.

[34] While working with Marshall Hall, Birkett was involved in several notable criminal cases that helped cement his reputation as an outstanding speaker at the Bar.

Lady Carnarvon saw this as blackmail and persuaded her new husband to take his wife to court for what Sir Henry McCardie, who tried the case, called "the most bitterly conducted litigation I have ever known".

[37][38] On the advice of his clerk, he asked Birkett to make the closing address before the court,[37] which turned the mood of the courtroom completely and an initially hostile jury decided to disregard the agreement of Mr. Dennistoun to pay ancillary relief to his former wife.

[45] Birkett replied that "he could not change his politics in twenty-five minutes, and even if the Liberal Party should disintegrate completely, he would not be seen taking refuge in the Labour ark".

[45] Despite having to juggle his career at the Bar and as a member of parliament, Birkett kept up a good attendance in the House of Commons, and along with Sir John Simon he became the leading Liberal spokesperson on the legal side of legislation.

[46] His attack on a clause of the Finance Act 1930 drew much praise from both Liberal and Conservative politicians, including Winston Churchill, who said that "I have rarely heard a speech more precisely directed at the object under debate, more harmoniously attuned to the character of Committee discussion, than the excellent statement the Honourable and learned Gentleman has just made".

[47] The speech was a particularly well-received one and led MacDonald to again offer the position of Solicitor General to Birkett, as the incumbent postholder James Melville was about to resign.

[50] After an economic crisis in 1931, the King dissolved parliament and Birkett returned to Nottingham East to defend his seat; his main opponent was the Conservative, Louis Gluckstein, who had challenged him in the 1929 election.

[52] The second was a tempting offer; the seat had become vacant on the death of its previous holder, a National Liberal with a comfortable majority, and it was felt that Birkett was almost certain to be returned to Parliament.

[56] When he appeared as a witness, the defendant claimed that after giving an unknown man a lift, he had found that he was running out of petrol and had asked the passenger to take the spare can in the car and fill up the fuel tank.

[61] Kaye was last seen alive on 10 May looking distressed in the doorway to her house and had been scheduled to visit her sister in London who received a telegram on 11 May reading "Going abroad.

Ruxton was found guilty of murdering his wife, Isabella, and their children's nanny, Mary Rogerson, before dismembering their bodies and disposing of the parts in a ravine at Moffat, in the Scottish Borders.

[79] During his time in the High Court, he dealt with several notable cases including Constantine v Imperial Hotels Ltd, which reaffirmed the common law principle that innkeepers must not refuse accommodation to guests without just cause.

[80] On 30 August 1945, Birkett received a letter from the Lord Chancellor asking him to serve as the British judge at the Nuremberg Trials of German War Criminals.

[84] After returning home from the trials, he received praise from both the Lord Chancellor, who said that "The country owes much to him for vindicating our conceptions of an impartial trial under the rule of law",[83] and from John Parker, the American alternate judge, who wrote that: Although only an alternate member of the tribunal without a vote, his voice was heard in all of its deliberations, his hand drafted a large and most important part of its judgment, and no one connected with the tribunal, member or otherwise, had a greater part than he in shaping the final result.

If, as I confidently believe, the work of the tribunal will constitute a landmark in the development of world order based on law, to Norman Birkett must go a large share of the credit for the success of the undertaking.

[18] The rest of his time in the High Court passed uneventfully,[86] but he continued to be unhappy with his work as a judge, noting that "I am nervous of myself, without much confidence in my judgment and hesitant about my sentences and damages and things of that kind.

[89] While speaking at a conference in Washington, D.C., on 31 August 1950, he received a telegram from the Lord Chancellor offering him appointment to the Court of Appeal; he immediately wired back his acceptance.

He accepted, and his name appeared in the 1958 New Years Honours list;[100][101] created Baron Birkett, of Ulverston in the County of Lancaster, and took his seat in the House of Lords on 20 February 1958.

[100] In the same year, he was awarded a LLD by the University of Cambridge, where the speaker said that Birkett was "endowed with such a voice as Cicero declared to be first requisite of an orator" and that "in our own time there had been no one more skilled in swaying the mind of a jury.

[18] Birkett tried to sit as regularly in the House of Lords as possible, and made his maiden speech on 8 April 1959 on the subject of crime in the United Kingdom.