The High Court could soon have its first female chief justice with sitting judge Susan Kiefel firming as the favourite to take over from Robert French, amid speculation he will leave the bench in early December.

Justice Kiefel, a former judge of the Federal Court and the Queensland Supreme Court, was appointed to the High Court in the last months of the Howard government in 2007.

Justice Susan Kiefel, a Queenslander, will become the first woman to occupy the nation's most senior judicial role. Credit:Glen McCurtayne

After leaving school at 15, she began work as a secretary in a law firm in 1971. The Cambridge University alumna would later become the first woman in Queensland to be appointed to the prestigious rank of Queen's counsel, or silk, in 1987.

Justice Kiefel is now among the most senior judges on the bench. The majority – Chief Justice French and justices Virginia Bell, Stephen Gageler and Patrick Keane – were appointed during the Rudd and Gillard governments.