Lawyers had a high opinion of his legal judgements, e.g. his judgement in the House of Lords in Liversidge v. Anderson defending subjects' rights in the face of official intervention, but his greatest service was his strong advocacy of making the teaching of law a part of the general scheme of education. To this end he delivered many lectures on law to schools. He favoured holding classes in universities to give education in law to lay students who did not intend to become lawyers, and with that in mind he wrote a Foreword to Edward Jenks, Book of English Law (1928), and was involved in its composition.

He was chairman of the group appointed by the Lord Chancellor to examine the position of legal education. He held that there was no reason why law should not have the same importance in general education as it had in the times of Fortescue, Locke and Blackstone. As a result of his efforts to extend legal education, the Legal Aid Act to give legal assistance to those who had not sufficient means was passed; it is to him that we owe the general sympathy which this movement received.

He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1919, and created baron in 1928; he was elected F.B.A. in 1938. He m. Lucy Elizabeth (died 1939), the eldest dau. of William Hemmant, Bulimba, Sevenoaks, formerly colonial treasurer, Queensland. Atkin lived for many years at Craig-y-don, Aberdyfi,. He d. 25 June 1944.