The John Hughes Law Practice

Our dedicated team of lawyers based in our Birmingham offices have been recruited for their knowledge and enthusiasm for the areas of law in which we specialise. They aim to provide sound, practical advice focussed on achieving clients’ goals, using their knowledge and experience to help clients through the legal minefield.

Please meet our solicitors

JOHN HUGHES

John Hughes holds a B.A. degree and an LL.B. (law) degree. He qualified with honours as a Solicitor in 1970. He has always specialised in public and local authority law, with particular emphasis on planning and development work.

John was articled as a Solicitor in local government. He worked at local authorities in the West Midlands before being appointed Solicitor to Kingswood Borough Council in Avon where he was responsible for managing all the Council’s legal work. In 1990 he moved into private practice, having been recruited by Pinsent & Co (now Pinsent Masons) a leading commercial firm of Solicitors to provide specialist expertise in planning and compulsory purchase and other areas of public law to the Black Country Development Corporation and local authorities and large corporate clients.

In 2000 John made the decision to establish his own practice with the aim of providing a specialist service in these areas of law, with the advantages that such a practice can offer in terms of personal service and lower costs. This philosophy has proved to be justified as the firm, having initially had just three clients, now has a client list of over 800, ranging from public authorities, building and development firms, small/medium enterprises carrying out all types of business, to private individuals and householders.

John Hughes has written and lectured extensively on planning, compulsory purchase and other topics. He was a consultee in the Government’s review of compulsory purchase law and submitted representations on behalf of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce on the Government’s planning reforms. He is interested in regeneration and is a member of the British Urban Regeneration Association ("BURA"). John is a member of the Council of Birmingham Law Society and sits on several of its committees. He was voted "Sole Practitioner of the Year" by his peers in the West Midlands legal fraternity at the Birmingham Law Society’s Awards of 2004 and named as “Professional of the Month” in the Birmingham Post in November 2006.

MATTHEW BARRETT

Matthew Barrett is an Associate of The John Hughes Law Practice in Birmingham. He qualified as a Solicitor in 1980 having previously obtained an honours degree in law at London University. Articled at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, he has spent a long career in local government specialising throughout in all areas of planning and public regulatory law. He headed the Planning Law Section at Wycombe District Council from 1989. His last local government post before moving to The John Hughes Law Practice was as Legal Services Manager to Cannock Chase District Council in Staffordshire from 2001 until the end of 2004, where he was responsible for managing the Council’s legal work.

Matthew has a wide experience of planning matters, having handled everything from small-scale residential developments, through to town centre redevelopments and major infrastructure projects. He also has extensive experience of dealing with enforcement matters of all sorts for both public corporations and private clients. He is an experienced advocate, having appeared at many public inquiries (including several Local Plan inquiries) and other hearings. Alongside this contentious work, Matthew has a wide experience of drafting planning and other agreements, both simple and complex.

Matthew has extensive experience before the Magistrates Court, both as prosecutor and representative of defendants, in a wide range of regulatory matters under planning, environmental, food safety and other legislation.

Matthew brings all these skills to The John Hughes Law Practice. He is also uniquely placed to advise clients in licensing matters, having been instrumental in setting up Cannock Chase Council’s licensing procedures when alcohol licensing was transferred from the Magistrates to local authorities in 2003.

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