The Law Society may view the Office of District Judge as relatively low in the judicial hierarchy, but that has not deterred increasing numbers of barristers from applying for, and securing, appointment both as deputy district judges and district judges. From a quick check of the appointments published so far following the most recent competition for district judges, it appears that five were barristers and four solicitors. The increasing appeal of the district bench may be because the jurisdiction has widened considerably over recent years and is now concurrent with the circuit bench in many areas of family and civil work.


There is a wide range of judicial appointments available to lawyers who are interested in them, including to the various tribunals and magistrates' courts. These positions all involve making decisions which can have a significant impact on the lives of individual people. For a specialist mental health or employment lawyer, it makes a lot more sense to apply for a relevant tribunal position than to seek to become a QC or a recorder - just as the obvious judicial path for a barrister who appears every day in the Crown Court is to the circuit bench. Maybe members of the bar and individual solicitors are less fixated on the judicial hierarchy than the Law Society, which seems obsessed with recorder, circuit bench and QC appointments.



District judge Andrew Grand, London