Former Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce receives the most senior honour to be awarded to a practising solicitor in the 2026 New Year list. Boyce, president from March 2021 to October 2022, is awarded the CBE for services to the legal profession and to diversity, and to access to justice.
The list, published this morning, also features Tim Eicke KC, who retired this year after serving nine years as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He is made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the overseas and international list for services to the protection of Human Rights in Europe.
Another judge to feature is former solicitor HHJ Patrick Peruško, designated family judge at the Family Drug and Alcohol Court, who receives the CBE for services to the administration of justice. Peruško, admitted in 1988, was appointed as a designated family judge for Milton Keynes in 2020 after being appointed a circuit judge in 2016.
Peruško was the victim of an attack in November 2023 by a party at Milton Keynes family court when he was pinned down and repeatedly punched in court. When the judge ran to his chambers and into a hearing room, the man caught up to him, and pushed him before punching his head multiple times. The attack raised widespread concerns on judicial and court safety.
Meanwhile Zelda Perkins, founder of NDA campaign group Can't Buy My Silence, receives the same award for services to social justice.
Elsewhere in the list, Paul Lewis, firmwide managing partner at magic circle firm Linklaters, receives the OBE for services to the community in Newport.
The Gazette intends to publish a full list of solicitors named in the 2026 list. Please email any details to michael.cross@lawsociety.org.uk.
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