Lord Neuberger said he would do his “best to ensure that [the court] continues to play its proper role in upholding the rule of law”.  Lord Phillips said his successor “brings not only a wealth of judicial experience but the ability to lead a collegiate court”.

Lord Neuberger became the then youngest serving law lord in 2007, having been appointed a High Court judge in 1996 and to the Court of Appeal in 2004. In 2009 when the Law Lords moved across Parliament Square and became the Supreme Court, he did not join the others but instead became Master of the Rolls. His predecessor, Lord Clarke, became a Supreme Court justice.

In 2006-2007, he led a Bar Council investigation into widening access to the barristers’ profession. His working party’s list of recommendations remain the bench mark against which progress is reckoned.