The Johnson Partnership

Where solicitors are concerned, the best quality service has to be built on top quality communication.

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.

In the ordinary course of events a driver with twelve points on his or her licence can expect to be disqualified for at least six months.

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.

At The Johnson Partnership Mansfield we are pleased to announce the arrival of Susan Kelly as part of our Mansfield based team of Criminal Defence solicitors.

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.

On 31^st October 2012 we finally rang down the curtain on five years of telephone advice for the CDS Direct service.

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.

Solicitors from The Johnson Partnership’s Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield and Mansfield offices have developed considerable experience in dealing with firearms offences of all sorts.

Andy Bostock, our firm’s newest Partner, has recently been involved in applications before the Crown Court in relation to shotgun licences.

Increasingly, police forces are either refusing to grant or refusing to renew shotgun licences for members of the public, who would normally have had a licence granted or renewed as a matter of course.

Anyone who is experiencing problems with their local police force in relation to the possession of a shotgun certificate should not hesitate to contact Andy Bostock at The Johnson Partnership in Mansfield on (01623) 427575.

Theo Addae celebrates ten years at The Johnson Partnership with a move to head up the Derby office with Tim Smith.

During the winter of 2011/12 Theo Addae, a vastly experienced Magistrates’ Court advocate has moved to the Derby Criminal Solicitor Scheme.

In 2010 we were delighted that Theo agreed to become The Johnson Partnership’s first black Partner.  His excellent reputation as a criminal solicitor providing quality service at the police station, the crown court and before the magistrates mean that Theo is a superb addition to The Johnson Partnership’s Derby team.

Theo is keen to ensure that from our Derby office The Johnson Partnership provide access to justice for people both in Derby city and in Derbyshire who find the police, the courts and solicitors’ officers daunting places to visit.

Theo is an experienced and skilled Criminal Defence solicitor and is also a Higher Courts advocate.  His arrival as part of the Derby setup means that there are now ten criminal solicitors regularly working both between the Derby and Chesterfield offices of The Johnson Partnership, providing a comprehensive service to clients requiring the advice of a solicitor from Buxton to Swadlincote.