Profiles in Leadership | Colin Birss
Pleased to share the latest episode of the Penn State Dickinson Law Profiles in Leadership series, featuring Sir Colin Birss, Chancellor of the High Court of England and Wales and incoming Master of the Rolls.
This may be Sir Colin’s first interview as incoming Master of the Rolls, offering a rare opportunity to hear directly from him about the experiences that have shaped his approach to judging and leadership, and what we might expect as he prepares to assume one of the most important judicial offices in England and Wales.
His path to that role has been anything but conventional. He began by studying metallurgy and materials science at Cambridge and working with computers before building a distinguished career in intellectual property practice and then on the bench. Those experiences have given him a distinctive perspective on how courts should respond to technological change without losing sight of the craft of judging.
Sir Colin reflects on why curiosity matters, why judges should seek to understand technology rather than be intimidated by it, and why institutions must be willing to experiment when better ways of working become possible. We also discuss the transition from advocate to judge, what makes advocacy effective from the other side of the bench, the people and experiences that shaped him, and the responsibilities that come with leading a judicial institution.
What emerges is a thoughtful view of leadership grounded not in preserving established ways of doing things for their own sake, but in understanding what institutions are there to accomplish and being prepared to improve how they accomplish it.
As Sir Colin prepares to become Master of the Rolls, this conversation offers an unusually timely window into the outlook he will bring to that role.
Watch here: https://lnkd.in/gjUGtJQZ
View past episodes of Profiles in Leadership here: https://dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/faculty/profiles-in-leadership
