A priceless inheritance
Join our annual law reform lecture by distinguished speaker, Sir Nicholas Mostyn. This year’s focus is on family law, open justice, and the rule of law.
2 July 2025, 6pm to 8pm
Gray's Inn
Free to attend
Join us at Gray's Inn to hear from Sir Nicholas Mostyn, a former High Court Judge and family law barrister, and more recently an acclaimed podcaster, co-founding Movers and Shakers and Law and Disorder.
Sir Nicholas will focus on family law, open justice and the rule of law. As per the headline from Earl Loreburn's speech in Scott v Scott, "the traditional law, that English justice must be administered openly in the face of all men, is an almost priceless inheritance…"
Engage in critical discussions with Sir Nicholas in our Q&A session, and join the drinks reception afterwards.
Why attend
- Hear from a distinguished speaker on this critically important area
- Lively discussions in the Q&A part of the lecture
- Network with other barristers, students, and academics at the drinks reception
Who should attend
- Practising barristers across all areas
- Academics
- Journalists
- Pupils and students with an interest in family law
- Parliamentarians
Sir Nicholas Mostyn
Sir Nicholas Mostyn was a barrister for 30 years specialising in matrimonial finance cases, and appeared as a QC in the foundational decisions of the House of Lords in White v White (2000) and Miller v Miller (2006) and of the Supreme Court in Granatino v Radmacher (2010).
He became a High Court judge in 2010 and sat in the family division, where he gave many judgments of major importance. In the final two years of his judicial career, he gave 11 major decisions on the need for family law to be administered publicly.
He was also a judge of the Court of Protection and of the Administrative Court of the King’s Bench Division of the High Court where he heard many judicial reviews of government decisions. Renowned for his independent, outspoken style, he frequently challenged the received wisdom of the law in favour of justice.
He retired from the Bench in July 2023, three years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, since when he has become an acclaimed podcaster. In February 2023 he co-founded the award-winning podcast Movers and Shakers with 5 other well-known people living with Parkinson’s, including Jeremy Paxman and Rory Cellan-Jones, and in January 2024 with Lord (Charlie) Falconer and Baroness (Helena) Kennedy KC DT he co-founded the podcast Law and Disorder.
In July 2024 he was awarded a doctorate of laws honoris causa by his alma mater Bristol University.
Book
Our previous Law reform lectures