‘What’s important for me is to be a reformer. I want to improve the civil justice system to make it more accessible in the modern world. It was simply not accessible when I came to the Bar. People mistake my passion as being all about technology. I am actually passionate about access to justice. But I do not think this can be delivered without technology and digitisation. So, I have sought to be a pioneer for digital justice. Once you realise digitisation is inevitable, it becomes a question of trying to get it right. A proper digital justice system will give people the confidence to obtain early legal advice online and resolve their legal problems without the need to take everything to court. A huge number of legal issues could be resolved online, including many which are never resolved at all at the moment. I chair the OPRC [Online Procedure Rule Committee], which is central to this change. Justice is really fundamental to people’s rights, to their psychological and economic wellbeing and to the economy and society as a whole. I see the majority of lawyers as servants of the public. They are often undervalued for their contribution. They are genuinely performing a social service.’

This is Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls (MR) and Head of Civil Justice since January 2021. His passion for access to justice and all things digital is well known. Perhaps less well known is the driven personality that lies behind it.

‘I am a traveller by inclination. After my A levels, I went to Scandinavia, hitch-hiking and youth hostelling for six weeks. I returned for my results, found I had got a place at Caius College, Cambridge to study Natural Sciences and left the following week for Nairobi, to teach at Starehe Boys’ Centre. I was 17. I was there for a year, teaching maths, French and science to boys, many of whom were older than me, and also acting at the Kenya National Theatre. While there I began to think I had done enough science. So I sent my College a blue Air Mail letter: “Can I do something else instead?” They sent me a little grey book listing the available degree courses. Headings included Archaeology and Anthropology, Land Economy and Law. I didn’t know anything about the law. I read: “You could be a solicitor or a barrister.” Five lines later, I said to myself: “Barrister for me.” I replied the same day to the college that I would like to switch to law, and told my parents after that. I found that I took to law at College. I had been a science person, who tended to think in terms of numbers, so I had to learn to write, to observe the rules of grammar and punctuation and to use short sentences – as to which, see my judgments. I had fun rather than working particularly hard. I coxed my College first boat every term I was there. We were on the river at 6am whenever it was not too dark. I worked from 9am to 1pm, writing essays, going to supervisions and lectures; for the rest of the day I acted and generally enjoyed myself. I had no idea what the rest of my life would bring.

‘I joined the Inner Temple early on.’ He later joined Lincoln’s Inn when he started to practise there, and has recently finished a year as Treasurer. ‘Family and friends were telling me it was safer to become a solicitor. I had no money. My father – a leather merchant – had recently died. My mother was worried. My brother advised against the Bar as too risky. But I had met inspiring judges and practitioners at dinners and events at Inner and my mind was made up: if I failed, I failed.

‘I was offered a pupillage in good chambers. But I thought they had kept me waiting too many hours for an interview. I rejected their offer.’ Was he a bolshie young man himself? ‘Perhaps I was. Arrogant might be a better word. I was quite a handful at that age. I went somewhere else for a first six. They offered me a tenancy and then later withdrew it. I enjoyed a busy second six in a different set. This one had 24 pupils. I was running round Magistrates’ Courts mostly in Slough and the Thames Valley. I ended up squatting in these chambers, being rejected for a tenancy along with Baroness Scotland KC, and finally being taken on by 3 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn. They let me take my Criminal and County Court work with me. I was able to build quite a good practice. I loved the advocacy. I would say myself that I was quite good at it. There’s still a bit of me that is an advocate.’ He took silk in 1993, by which time his practice was more commercial. Over the years, he had many big cases, including Barings, Gooda Walker and Maxwell, and some fascinating ones, including one about the estate of the painter Francis Bacon and one ‘where I had to learn to write in Chinese and explain why a Chinese will was not forged – to a Chinese judge in Hong Kong.’ He was Head of Chambers for 15 years.

He joined the High Court in 2009. Was this an inevitable progression? ‘No. When I reached 50 I thought I had earned enough money. I wanted to give something back to the Bar and the law. I had been Chair of the Chancery Bar Association. I became active in the Bar Council, spending four years working on fairer access to the Bar, Legal Aid fees and on the regulation of the Bar, creating the blueprint for the Bar Standards Board [set up in 2006]. I became Chair of the Bar. I joined the Courts of Appeal in Jersey, Guernsey and the Cayman Islands. I was spending two weeks in every six months in the Caymans, and also time in the Channel Islands. I was arbitrating and practising in several countries. It was a nice life. I was prevailed upon to apply to the High Court here and did so successfully in 2007 when my term as Bar Chair was ending. But I kept putting off my start date. I was Chair of the Social Mobility Foundation. We mentored clever children from poor backgrounds. I had a fascinating practice. Why give it all up? My other options included politics, which I was considering in the context of social mobility. I spoke with a politician. He advised: “Be a judge.” Why? “I know you. You expect to achieve 90% of what you set out to do. In politics it’s 10% at best. You’d be dissatisfied. It would be better for you to become a judge.’’’

Sir Geoffrey started in the High Court in Chancery in 2009, moving up to the Court of Appeal in 2013 and becoming Chancellor of the High Court in 2016. He became MR in January 2021. ‘I probably went to the Court of Appeal too soon. I found my first couple of years here the most difficult time I have had on the bench. We were less collegiate as a group then, something that has required a great deal of effort to change. It’s a real privilege to help address that now I have the opportunity. I very much enjoy judging, and I believe I have had the two best jobs in the legal system as Chancellor and Master of the Rolls. I sit on some of the most important cases in the CA. I think it’s silly to say “I love the law” but I will say that I love problem-solving; and I’m never happier than when I am writing a judgment. I am perhaps one of the few entirely paperless judges.’

Although conscious of the long history behind the office of MR and a possible ambition on his part to produce a book on it, Sir Geoffrey was more concerned to talk about the modern aspects of the role, brought into focus after the post holder became the Head of Civil Justice in 2002. ‘The role is much wider than the one which people associate with Lord Denning.’ The man who had ‘done enough science’ travels the country and the world championing the digitisation of justice and the adoption of new technologies and AI, all to improve access to justice. Back in London, ‘I have been making the case for digital justice and digital assets to the Treasury. I think it’s getting through.’

Other aspects of his work include ‘a responsibility for many things of importance to judges, like pay, and, before that, pensions. I work with the Senior Salaries Review Board on judicial remuneration. Some of the changes that I have helped bring about have led to better recruitment of judges. I regularly visit civil courts around the country – so far just over half of the 140 – meeting district judges and their deputies. I hope they trust me. What helps is our empathy with each other as fellow judges. They are hardworking and committed to justice and to getting the best answer in every case. I find this at every level. They are a really great bunch. I’ve worked internationally, visited many countries, and lectured all over the world. I love the ability to meet and learn from other judiciaries. You never stop learning. I try to learn something every day. It’s most important for all judges to try their very best to see themselves as others see them.’ He speaks as someone who engages the help of a coach. ‘The Diversity and Inclusion agenda is important because valuing people is vital. When I started out the Bar was not an egalitarian place. It’s still a bit like that now. That’s why we need the commitment to D&I.’

Advice to those beginning their careers at the Bar? ‘Don’t be unrealistic. Don’t think you will be an international human rights lawyer or arbitrator at the age of 25 – you won’t. Start at the bottom somewhere and go on to thrive.’

Speaking of himself, he explains that he created his own practice. ‘All my jobs have been a great privilege. I’ve never not enjoyed anything I’ve done.’ He pauses. ‘You need to add that I couldn’t have done it without the support of my marvellous wife, Vivien. Make sure you spell her name right.’

Occasionally a final question throws up something totally unexpected. Anything else we haven’t covered? ‘I became a farmer 40 years ago. I started with three acres and eight sheep. We are now bigger – sheep, cattle and arable. I absolutely love it. Every Saturday morning, I get stuck in with the tasks at hand on the farm. I can easily switch from law to farming and back again.’ What does his coach say to him? ‘Everyone says to me I am too busy.’ 

Sir Geoffrey travels the world championing the digitisation of justice and the adoption of new technologies, all to improve access to justice. He is one of the few entirely paperless judges and delivered the Bar Council’s 2023 Law Reform Lecture on the rapidly evolving role of AI in law and associated challenges.

Sir Geoffrey joined the High Court in Chancery in 2009, the Court of Appeal in 2013, became Chancellor of the High Court in 2016 and Master of the Rolls in January 2021. ‘I probably went to the Court of Appeal too soon,’ he says. ‘I found my first couple of years here the most difficult time I have had on the bench. We were less collegiate as a group then, something that has required a great deal of effort to change.’