When Robert Shute was appointed second baron in June 1579 the patent declared "he shall be reputed and be of the same order, rank, estimation, dignity and pre-eminence to all intents and purposes as any puisne judge of either of the two other courts.

The rise of commercial trade in Elizabethan England occasioned fraudulent application of the Quo minus writ.

The Inns of Courts began to exclude solicitors, and held posts for judges and barons open equally to barristers.

They were originally the same judges as those of the Court of King's Bench, only becoming independent positions after the Exchequer's separation from the curia regis.

[4] Prior to the changes of 1533, Serjeants held precedence over barons "sitting in the high court,...of great eminence".

With the exception of Henry Bradshaw and Sir Clement Higham, both barristers-at-law, all of the chief barons who served Elizabeth I, had attained the highest and most prestigious rank of a lawyer, serjeant-at-law.

The number of puisnes generally remained at three until the 19th century, but there was a fourth from 1708 to 1725 due to John Smith having leave of absence to attend to the office of a Baron of the Scottish Exchequer.