Potter was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1996 and became President of the Family Division in April 2005.
He returned to the field of commercial Law as an arbitrator at Fountain Court chambers, with appointments in areas such as insurance, international share purchase agreements including Bermuda form and energy disputes.
In July 2006, Potter ruled against Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson, a lesbian couple who had married in Canada, in their case to have their same-sex partnership recognised as marriage under English law.
In 2009, following a government consultation on increasing transparency in the family courts system, Potter presided over the implementation of new rules allowing media access to family proceedings, hitherto private and confidential, subject to certain restrictions.
Potter is a Trustee of Somerset House in London, and also of Great Ormond Street Hospital for children.