As well as our local crown courts in Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Lincoln and Birmingham, you might expect to find The Johnson Partnership solicitors in regular attendance at Southwark Crown Court or one of the other Greater London Fraud Centres.

At the moment, we find ourselves defending Revenue & Customs prosecutions in Preston, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Ipswich, Sheffield, Manchester and Hull.

With the growth in prosecutions by non-police and non-Revenue & Customs agencies, we have found an increased call on our White Collar Department’s specialist assistance.

Joint teams dealing with the white collar crime in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire often share staff and expertise to ensure the best service for clients, wherever they are required to appear.

We have noticed an increase in the number of clients being visited at their homes or places of work to be interviewed on a “voluntary basis” which again has necessitated staff being available in some of the most unlikely places.  Staff have recently attended lengthy interviews at the offices of their local quarrying and mining operator which are thirty miles or so from the nearest police station.

Rest-assured that wherever you are interviewed, bailed or summonsed, The Johnson Partnership can have the right person on hand to give experienced and discreet advice.

In addition, clients required to answer police bail at anti-social times can rely on a police station advisor from The Johnson Partnership to be available come what may.

The Night Owl rota will be staffed by police station advisors, new solicitors and time-served duty solicitors alike.  However major or minor the matter you must feel free to ask for The Johnson Partnership.  Clients will be able to say to the police with confidence that Johnsons will be there in a jiffy!

For the past fourteen years The Johnson Partnership have happily shared premises at Cannon Courtyard in Nottingham with the self-saying café.

People staying late in the office have been regularly entertained by a selection of DJs and live artists playing to a hip boho crowd.

Absolutely none of us had any idea that we had been present at one of the very first live performances given by Jake, whose first album topped the UK charts in the Autumn of 2012.

Staff can perhaps be excused for not recalling the event, bearing in mind that Jake explained to the nation that he only managed to play three songs before a guitar string broke, without him having a replacement, leaving him to fear that his career was doomed to failure rather than international stardom.

We all wish Jake well with his forthcoming world tour and applaud the Alley Café for some spectacular talent-spotting.

Traditionally clients have had to travel to see solicitors at their office or wait for a visit in hospital, prison or at home.

The Johnson Partnership’s Derby, Chesterfield, Mansfield and Nottingham offices are all now equipped to enable easy, open communication without expensive, wasteful and unnecessary travel.

All The Johnson Partnership staff have been trained to advise clients using the best modern technology.  As well as conference calls in which solicitors, barristers and clients can be linked over the telephone, we are now regularly employing Skype, Face-time and live TV links to enable clients to give instructions and receive advice without having to leave the “comfort” of their accommodation.

Anyone wanting to consult with staff should place an initial telephone call, in order to book a meeting utilizing the preferred means of communication.

For those of us who still prefer to chat over a cup of coffee there will of course always be an open door and a singing kettle to accompany a face-to-face chat.

Whether or not to make an appeal is often a difficult decision, particularly bearing in mind the danger of increased costs being awarded against an unsuccessful defendant.

When it comes to The Johnson Partnership clients, there is barely a decision to be made.

The Johnson Partnership’s Derby office along with the in-house Crown Court team have been successful in nine of the last ten appeals.  Findings of guilt and over-heavy sentences imposed by Derby and Chesterfield Magistrates’ Courts have been successfully appealed nine times out of ten by The Johnson Partnership team.

If you have concerns about a decision reached by any Lower Court and you are considering an appeal to a Crown Court judge please consult The Johnson Partnership’s own Crown Court team on (0115) 941 9141.

It is open to every driver who finds themselves with twelve or more points to ask a court not to disqualify them on the basis that such a disqualification would cause “exceptional hardship”.

What amounts to exceptional hardship is always a matter for the court to decide.  For the court to find that a client would indeed be caused truly exceptional difficulties requires a carefully prepared and well-presented argument to be laid before the bench.

So far this year, The Johnson Partnership have succeeded in arguing for motorists to keep their licences in spite of having twelve points or more before the magistrates in Nottingham, Mansfield, Chesterfield, Derby, Lincoln, Bradford, Luton, Halifax, Banbury, Solihull, Liverpool, Cardiff and Leeds.

The Johnson Partnership’s expert team is headed up by Digby Johnson who says that he has not lost an exceptional hardship argument in the past ten years except the one that he ran for the father of one of our own solicitors!

If you find yourself facing the possibility of disqualification please ring for a chat.  The Johnson Partnership are happy to advise at short notice in order to ensure we have the maximum time to help you prepare for a satisfying and successful conclusion.

For the past fifteen months a series of cases have been held in the North East, centering around claims, which are alleged to be fraudulent, farming on non-existent or greatly exaggerated road traffic accidents.

Throughout a lengthy series of trials a substantial number of those charged have either pleaded guilty or been convicted.

The Johnson Partnership Fraud Department, headed up by Aaron Watson-Weinberg, with support from David Henson and Digby Johnson, has been the moving force behind one of the most spectacular acquittals.

In spite of representing someone described as “a main player” by the Crown Prosecution Service, The Johnson Partnership were able to sift through a veritable room full of papers to help Star Counsel Adrian Langdale to persuade a long-suffering and hard-working Newcastle upon Tyne jury that our client was not tainted by the dishonesty which had infected others.

Cases of this sort are immensely complicated and difficult to marshall.  The Johnson Partnership Fraud Department now has a track record which will stand up to the closest scrutiny.  Its recent victory is a clear demonstration of what can be achieved by someone who knows what they are doing and has a clear route map to victory, even in the face of apparently overwhelming odds.

Sue has provided legal services to the people of Shirebrook for many years.  Her well-appointed town centre office is known by many local people.

Thanks to Sue’s recent recruitment to The Johnson Partnership team, we are now able to provide advice and help to the people of Shirebrook on their own doorstep.

The Johnson Partnership staff will be able to see people with appointments at Mansfield Police Station, Chesterfield Police Station, Mansfield Magistrates’ Court, Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court, Nottingham Crown Court and Derby Crown Court on home turf.

The Johnson Partnership clients from the whole of the north of Nottinghamshire who find it more convenient to be advised in our Shirebrook premises will of course be welcome.

Shirebrook sits on the very boundary between Nottingham and Derbyshire.  People from the village often find themselves having to travel either to Mansfield or Chesterfield for legal advice.   By having the outreach facility in Shirebrook as well as permanent offices in Rosemary Street, Mansfield and Burlington Street, Chesterfield we can ensure continuity of service and the constant availability of a friendly face.

Our convenient offices, looking out over Chesterfield’s main shopping thoroughfare, have proved a welcome dropping off point for many on their way to the Magistrates’ Court or the police station.

Long office opening hours between 08:00am and 6:00pm ensure that those who need to attend Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court, Buxton Magistrates’ Court, Chesterfield Police Station or Buxton Police Station can find advice and assistance even though they are in full time employment.

John, Denney and Katie are all committed to providing a highly personalised service for Derbyshire people who find themselves caught up in the Derbyshire criminal justice system.  The needs of each clients are evaluated and the appropriate service provided, be it a lift to the court door or the rearrangement of a police bail date to fit in with work or family commitments.

A number of clients have recently reported that the service they receive is little short than that expected from that other famous Derbyshire market leader: Rolls Royce!

Since November 2007 employees of The Johnson Partnership have been providing telephone advice 24 hours for 365 days a year to people arrested nationwide for breaches of bail, warrants and an array of minor matters.

Providing the service enabled us to recruit new colleagues at a relatively junior level.  A number have moved elsewhere, but we are pleased to say that a good number have been absorbed into The Johnson Partnership and now work as full time solicitors, crown court clerks or police station advisors.  The Johnson Partnership Derby, The Johnson Partnership Nottingham, The Johnson Partnership Chesterfield and The Johnson Partnership Mansfield are all in part staffed by people who commenced their legal careers at the CDS Direct Call Centre at 12 St James’s Street here in Nottingham.

Six training contracts have already been offered to ex call centre staff. Full time posts have been provided for a significant number of colleagues who regularly advise at police stations throughout South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire.

We wish the new providers of CDS Direct much success and would like to assure them of our ongoing support.

The disadvantage of the CDS Direct Call Centre was of course that it occupied a great many staff looking after clients who we would never see again.  Many CDS Direct clients were the sort of people who were unlikely ever to find themselves in a police station in the future.  Others were arrested in far-flung police stations and were unlikely ever to avail themselves of our services on an ongoing basis.

We are now able to redouble our efforts in expanding the firm’s core client base.  We are in the happy position of having staff available to expand the work undertaken day by day by The Johnson Partnership’s Defence team.

Not only will The Johnson Partnership’s motoring offence specialists have greater flexibility to look after clients in Magistrates’ Courts throughout the Midlands, the North and East Anglia, The Johnson Partnership police station advisors should be better able to ensure that an attentive service, including transportation, can be provided to clients who have to surrender to bail, or who are warned to attend at police stations from Canterbury to Carlisle.

We aim to increase our presence as Defence solicitors in Sheffield, Staffordshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.  Ideally, we would love to be able either to establish ties with local firms of those areas or establish our own bases by way of merger or acquisition.  We have young, enthusiastic and highly experienced staff who are keen to provide the necessary support for new or expanded operations.