Hodge Jones & Allen was founded in 1977 by Patrick Allen and two friends. The idea was for a new kind of law firm to help ordinary people defend or assert their legal rights. We recognised then that individuals often face an unequal battle when bringing or defending proceedings against the state, local authorities or businesses. We also recognised that successful legal action had the power to change people’s lives for the better.
Access to justice for all is a fundamental principle enabling all citizens to exercise and enjoy their civic and human rights regardless of their means. We believed that then, and we believe it now.
The firm now provides specialist teams in the following areas:
- crime
- family
- housing
- personal injury
- clinical negligence
- civil liberties
- general litigation and
- wills and probate
A pioneering firm: Over the years HJA has been involved in many leading cases. Our personal injury team acted in the King’s Cross fire and Marchioness litigation and played a lead role in the MMR, Sheep Dip and Gulf war cases and at the New Cross Fire Inquest. Our civil liberties lawyers were involved in several groundbreaking cases including the case of Smith which went all the way to the Supreme Court and established whether soldiers were entitled to rely on the Human Rights Act when serving abroad. The HJA crime team has a specialist department dealing with protest law representing those who have been arrested while exercising their rights to demonstrate and protest against government policy. We recently signed an agreement with a charity, Just for Kids Law, who provide advice and representation for youths in trouble. Just for Kids law will be based at HJA providing the service and working closely with our crime team.
