Hodge Jones & Allen

Hodge Jones & Allen is a London solicitors founded in September 1977 by Henry Hodge, Peter Jones, and Patrick Allen, specialising in legal aid work and favouring radical causes.[1]

Hodge Jones & Allen
HeadquartersLondon, NW1
United Kingdom
OfficesLondon, United Kingdom
No. of attorneysOver 200
Major practice areasCriminal Defence
Civil liberties
Human Rights
Housing
Key peopleNigel Richardson
Date founded1977
FounderHenry Hodge, Peter Jones and Patrick Allen
Company typeLimited Liability Partnership
Websitewww.hja.net

The firm has a strong reputation in a wide range of cases including human rights, family law, clinical negligence, social housing, civil liberties, dispute resolution, criminal defence, employment law, military claims, court of protection, personal injury cases and wills & probate.[2]

History

In 1976, Patrick Allen, an articled clerk at Mayfair solicitors, Offenbach & Co, was discussing the possibility of setting up a new law firm with colleague and solicitor Peter Jones. They looked for a third partner and were introduced to Henry Hodge then head of the Citizens Rights office at CPAG.

Hodge found a willing bank manager, Bert Enright of the Midland Bank, Camden Town who agreed to lend each partner £3500 on overdraft subject to parental guarantees. They found premises above a tailor’s shop on Camden High Street. In August 1977 Allen completed his Part 2 Law Society exams at Alexandra Palace and joined Hodge at the new office which they painted . In September 1977 Jones arrived and they opened for business. Bert sent the first client who needed advice on a bank guarantee. Their first £5 fixed fee was framed and put on the wall of Henry’s office– later stolen by a client.

The firm was founded specifically to use the law and a flourishing legal aid scheme to provide the means for vulnerable clients to assert or defend their rights.

The firm first had offices on Camden High Street, chosen because they were in an area of social deprivation and not far from the law courts.[3] Initially, the firm specialised in criminal defence, family law, housing, private client work and general litigation which was mostly funded by legal aid. It went on to develop teams in personal injury, clinical negligence and multi-party work.

The firm expanded steadily each year and in November 1997 moved off the High Street to Twyman House, Camden Road, with 75 employees. The offices were opened by Cherie Booth, who accepted briefs from the firm in her early career. The first website was launched shortly after the move. The firm now employs over 230 people at its offices on North Gower Street, Camden and has  47 partners.

In December 2018, Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors became first law firm to convert its business model to create a 100% employee owned trust (EOT). Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors Limited trade and run in the same way as Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors LLP, but 100 per cent of the shares of the new limited company will be owned by the Trust rather than the current members of the LLP.

Throughout the years, the firm has been constantly recognised by independent experts, legal directories and others for its leading solicitors and trail-blazing approach.

Notable cases

Sexual offences

Disasters

Health
I feel sad because it’s been a long struggle. And I feel sad that some can’t trust the answer that we’ve come up with. But it hasn’t been a close decision insofar as it’s been finely balanced. The fact is that we haven’t got the causation or the negligence.

—Patrick Allen on the collapse of the firm's Gulf War Syndrome litigation in 2004[5]

  • Healthcare workers, children and people in ‘at risk groups’ who alleged they had narcolepsy due to the 2009-10 pandemic H1N1 swine flu vaccine ‘Pandemrix’
  • Families of girls alleged to have been harmed by Cervarix, the cervical cancer vaccine.[6]
  • Gulf War veterans who claimed that they suffered from Gulf War Syndrome. The case collapsed in 2004.[7]

Military
  • The family of Scottish soldier Private Jason Smith, who died of heatstroke in Iraq in August 2003.[8]
  • The family of Private Phillip Hewett, who died in Iraq in July 2005 when the Snatch Land Rover he was travelling in was hit by a roadside bomb.[9][10]

Civil liberties & Human Rights
  • Miners during the 1980's strike[2]
  • Winston Silcott, who was accused and acquitted of the murder of Keith Blakelock during the 1985 Broadwater Farm riot.[2]
  • Vincent and Michael Hickey, two of the Bridgewater Four.[11]
  • Members of UK Uncut who were arrested in Fortnum & Mason during a 2011 protest.[12]
  • Neville Lawrence, the father Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack.[13]
  • A woman arrested and denied bail for allegedly handling stolen goods after the 2011 England riots.[14]
  • A policy to not represent defendants in rape cases where the defence put forward was that the woman consented was criticised and quickly dropped.[1]

Family law
  • Philippa Vaughan, who successfully claimed a divorce settlement twenty-five years after her divorce.[15]

Housing law
  • Jayesh Kunwardia, head of the Housing team was successful in a Supreme Court challenge against the decision of Westminster City Council to accommodate a homeless family far from their home borough.[16]

References
  1. "Sir Henry Hodge". The Telegraph. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  2. Pugh, Andrew (21 June 2010). "Hodge Jones & Allen". The Lawyer. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  3. Carrier, Dan (25 June 2009). "Sir Henry used legal expertise to fight for needy". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  4. Hodgson, Nichi (6 January 2012). "Michael Peacock's acquittal is a victory for sexual freedom". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  5. Robins, Jon (23 February 2004). "The blame drain". The Lawyer. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  6. Foggo, Daniel; Rosie Millard (4 October 2009). "What has cervical cancer drug done to our girls?". The Times. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  7. Dyer, Clare (5 February 2004). "Gulf war syndrome: the legal case collapses". Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  8. Peev, Gerri (3 May 2007). "Family hit out after soldier's heatstroke death blamed on 'obesity'". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  9. Gibb, Frances (11 July 2009). "Soldier's mother wins court fight over Snatch Land Rovers". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  10. Rayner, Jonathan (11 March 2010). "Jocelyn Cockburn acts for families of soldiers killed in Iraq". Law Society Gazette. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  11. Dyer, Clare (29 January 2007). "Freed Bridgewater pair fight deduction of jail 'lodging costs'". Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  12. Rayner, Jonathan (7 April 2011). "Human rights partner acts for London Fortnum & Mason protestors". Law Society Gazette. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  13. Hughes, Mark; Andy Bloxham (18 May 2011). "Stephen Lawrence: two charged over murder". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  14. Curtis, Polly (22 August 2011). "Riots: Metropolitan police planned to hold all suspects in custody". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  15. Baksi, Catherine (9 April 2010). "Toby Hales and the divorce settlement 25 years after marriage split". Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  16. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-25. Retrieved 2018-01-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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