 Between 1445 and 1447 he served as legal counsel for the Duchy of Lancaster, and in 1448 he was appointed an Assize Justice for Ely.His career took a sharp upturn when he was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas on 16 January 1449 despite having never served as any kind of Puisne Justice.Soon after his appointment he continued his activities outside Westminster, serving on a commission of Oyer and terminer in Kent in 1451 following the rebellion of Jack Cade by a similar commission in Lincolnshire in 1452 and at York in 1454.