Nicholas Wall (judge)

The Right Honourable Sir Nicholas Wall
President of the Family Division
In office 13 April 2010 – 1 December 2012
Nominated by	Gordon Brown
Appointed by	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Mark Potter
Succeeded by	Sir James Munby
Personal details
Born	Nicholas Peter Rathbone Wall (1945-03-14)14 March 1945
Died	17 February 2017(2017-02-17) (aged 71)
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Sir Nicholas Peter Rathbone Wall, PC (14 March 1945 – 17 February 2017) was an English judge who was President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice for England and Wales.

Early life

Nicholas Wall was born into a non-wealthy family on 14 March 1945. He won a London County Council scholarship to Dulwich College, an independent day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich in South London, followed by an Exhibition to Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he read English and then Law.

Legal career

Wall was called to the bar (Gray's Inn) in 1969 and was made a Bencher in 1993. He became a Queen's Counsel and was appointed an Assistant Recorder in 1988. He became a Recorder in 1990. He was appointed to the Family Division of the High Court on 20 April 1993, receiving the customary knighthood. Wall was a Judge of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (2001–2003) and the Administrative Court (2003–2004). He was promoted to the Court of Appeal on 12 January 2004 and consequently made a Privy Counsellor.

Wall was nominated to be President of the Family Division by the appointments panel, but the Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw, asked them to reconsider. The panel once again put Wall forward, and he was subsequently appointed to the position on 13 April 2010. Wall retired on 1 December 2012 for health reasons.

Death

Wall died on 17 February 2017. His family stated that he had recently been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, and had taken his own life.