Dr Julie Maxton LLM. PHD. An Associate Member of Bankside Chambers was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws at the University of Canterbury on 11 April 2017. The ceremony was held in the Horncastle Arena a sports stadium and a tangible reminder we were in post-quake Christchurch. The speaker introducing her had this to say:-Dr Julie Maxton, Executive Director of the Royal Society, is known for her outstanding reputation as a scholar of the law of equity and trusts.She began her career as a lecturer at the University of Canterbury after studying Law at University College London, and during her time lecturing completed her Master of Laws degree (LLM) with First Class Honours.After Dr Maxton moved to the University of Auckland, she completed her PhD in Law and became a Professor of Law in 1993. In 2000, Dr Maxton became the University of Auckland first female Dean, she was also the Dean of Postgraduate Studies and spent time acting as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor on two occasions.Dr Maxton has been paving the way for female leadership. In 2006 she was appointed Registrar of the University of Oxford, the first woman to hold the office in the 550 years since the position was established. In 2011 she was appointed Executive Director of the Royal Society, the first woman in the society 350-year history to head the organisation.As a legal academic she is held in the highest esteem. Dr Maxton is a Bencher at the Middle Temple and is an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford. She is a Freeman of the Goldsmith Company, and a Board Member of Engineering UK, the Charities Aid Foundation, Haberdashers Aske’s School, and until recently, of the International Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Governance at Oxford University. Locally, since 2011 Dr Maxton has been a director of the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.