Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) media head Jaron Lewis is leaving the firm to become a full-time district judge on the South Eastern Circuit.

Lewis, who first joined RPC in 1997, has been working as a part-time deputy district judge since 2009, handling civil and family matters, including personal injury and housing. He will take up his full-time role at Romford County Court from 18 December.

From 2000 to 2007, he was a senior in-house counsel at the BBC before returning to RPC. Earlier this year, he led the firm's successful defence for Associated Newspapers in a high-profile media harassment case brought against the Daily Mail by Carina Trimingham, the partner of Lib Dem MP Chris Huhne.

Lewis has also worked with clients including Google and Guardian News and Media.

Jonathan Watmough, RPC's managing partner, commented: "Jaron's appointment fulfils an ambition of his, so as you can imagine, he's very excited about the prospect.

"Of course, we never like to say goodbye to people of Jaron's calibre, but he leaves our market-leading defamation practice in excellent health."

The announcement comes after former Supreme Court president Lord Phillips called for leading law firms to encourage more of their partners to sit as part-time judges, amid a Law Society campaign to increase the number of solicitors in the judiciary. 

Last October, Clyde & Co litigation partner Ray Bell left his firm to become a full-time judge in Guildford, while former Barlow Lyde & Gilbert partner Janet Lambert has been a district judge at the Royal Courts of Justice since April last year.

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