partners

• Stephen Bloom
  Stephen heads the Civil Litigation Department. Admitted in 1981, Stephen has a wealth of experience in civil litigation and particularly personal injury claims. He is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. He has developed an expertise in Commercial and Goods in Transit claims, as well as a number of strategies for mediation. Stephen’s team is experienced to deal with civil and commercial disputes, insurance claims, professional negligence actions and representation at inquests.
• Fergal Bloomer
  Fergal is a Higher Courts’ Advocate and conducts Crown and Magistrates’ Court trials. Admitted in 1988, he has a fine reputation in Birmingham, having been involved in many of the region’s most serious cases. Fergal joined the firm in 2011.
• Patrick Cox
  Patrick heads the Police Stations and Investigations Department. He was admitted in 1990 and conducts trials in the Crown Court, Magistrates' Court and Youth Court, in relation to all aspects of Criminal Law. He has particular expertise in motoring cases, especially in relation to the retention of driving licences. Patrick is a Higher Courts' Advocate and a Duty Solicitor.
• Ben Henry
  Originally qualifying as a barrister, Ben qualified as a solicitor in 2008 having been at the firm since 2003. He now heads the Business Crime Department. Ben specialises in business crime, defending clients from the investigation stage through to the Crown Court. In 2008 Ben spent a secondment in the corporate department at Martineau, gaining experience of mergers, acquisitions and finance, which has proved invaluable in criminal cases involving a corporate element, particularly complex restraint order matters. Ben has a particular interest in restraint and confiscation proceedings and by being pro-active in his dealings with the prosecuting authorities has minimised the extent of confiscation orders and successfully achieved the variation and discharge of restraint orders.
• Steven Jonas
  Admitted in 1981, Steven heads the Magistrates' Courts Department and supervises all Human Rights, Judicial Review and Criminal Cases Review Commission matters. A Council Member of the Birmingham Law Society since 1990, he was its President in 2004-5 and chaired its Criminal Law Committee 2005 - 2010. A Higher Courts' Advocate, appearing in the Crown Court, as well as in the Administrative Court and the Court of Appeal. He is a Duty Solicitor. Steven is referred to as a Key Individual in Chambers and Partners, where he is described as having “a wealth of experience and is particularly capable in handling serious organised crime matters”.
• Nicholas Roy
  Nicholas heads the Crown Court Department, and is hugely experienced in all areas of Criminal Defence work, having been admitted in 1969. He was a member of the Council of the Birmingham Law Society and a member of both the Area and the Local Duty Solicitor Committees, having been the Chairman of the latter for several years. Nicholas is also a Duty Solicitor. As a Higher Courts Advocate, he has appeared successfully in the Court of Appeal and has conducted many cases in the Crown Court both as advocate and as led junior. “One of the strongest advocates in the region” according to Chambers and Partners.
• John Smitheman
  Admitted in 1980, John is an experienced trial advocate and appears in the Magistrates ' and Crown Courts locally and around the country. He specialises in defending clients prosecuted for all types of Road Traffic offences from minor infringements to the most serious cases involving fatalities. He has developed strategies for retaining driving licences when under threat of disqualification. The Legal 500 describes John as “a ‘go to name’ for traffic offences”. He has also acted for many individual and company clients in regulatory matters, such as Health and Safety and Trading Standards, from investigation through to trial. John is a Higher Courts' Advocate and Duty Solicitor.