President's tribute to Sir Nicholas Wall

All of us were deeply saddened to hear the news of Sir Nicholas Wall’s death last week.

Sir Nicholas Wall was indisputably one of the outstanding family lawyers of our generation. He combined great intellectual rigour with humanity and compassion. His appointment as President of the Family Division in April 2010 crowned a most distinguished career in family law.

He was well known for his kindness and generosity to colleagues at the Bar and on the Bench and for his patience and courtesy in dealing with those who appeared before him especially those without the benefit of legal representation.

Unlike a number of recent Presidents Sir Nicholas came to the office after an entire career steeped in family law.

He was called to the Bar in 1969 took silk in 1988 and was appointed to the Family Division in 1993 at the age of 48. In 2004 he went to the Court of Appeal.

At the Bar he established a reputation as a highly effective advocate possessed of formidable forensic skill. His practice embraced the most complex children and financial cases; for we must not forget that although...

Read the full article here.