*/
Richard Heaton has been appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice. Currently Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and First Parliamentary Counsel, he will replace Ursula Brennan who retires in the summer. Called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1988, he joined the Home Office three years later and has held a number of legal roles within government, including at the Lord Chancellor’s Department. He was appointed Head of Legal Services in the Department of Constitutional Affairs before moving to the Department for Work and Pensions and then the Department of Health.
Richard Heaton has been appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice. Currently Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and First Parliamentary Counsel, he will replace Ursula Brennan who retires in the summer. Called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1988, he joined the Home Office three years later and has held a number of legal roles within government, including at the Lord Chancellor’s Department. He was appointed Head of Legal Services in the Department of Constitutional Affairs before moving to the Department for Work and Pensions and then the Department of Health.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
By Kem Kemal, CEO, Henry Dannell
By BSK Financial Planning
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs
Susie Griffin on the admin that keeps barristers from billable work
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Kick off your career at the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair this October – it’s one of the most valuable opportunities for aspiring barristers, says Amelia Clegg
Join us on Saturday 21 November 2026 at Leeds Beckett University and see for yourself why the North continues to be an exceptional place to build a career at the Bar
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control