John runs EarthRights' Essex office where he is responsible for the partnership's legally-aided public law work. He cut his environmental teeth on the Newbury Bypass campaign and now regularly conducts legal challenges on issues ranging from quarrying to village greens, incinerators to access to information. He also advises community groups on charity law and environmental projects.

John became a solicitor in 1990, having taken a BA in law and politics at Queen Mary College, London University, and completed articles in a general legal aid practice in London's East End. His first post was at the Hackney Law Centre where he worked on housing, employment and poll tax cases.

John then moved to the Law Centres Federation to run its government-funded Environmental Law Project. As the project's director he produced educational materials for advice workers and campaigners on environmental law and organised a series of workshops throughout the country, culminating in a major conference on public interest environmental litigation.

With other environmental lawyers he set up the EarthRights environmental law and resource centre. He was employed as its solicitor for three years, during which time he acted for a number of communities and campaigns, including a mass noise nuisance action (the subject of a Legal Aid Board study into alternative forms of legal service delivery), the Newbury Bypass protest and other environmental and land rights cases.

In 1998, John established the EarthRights solicitors' partnership with Charlie Hopkins.

John writes and speaks on environmental rights and has appeared on both national television and radio. Among his published work is "Whose Environment is it Anyway?" and "Public Interest Perspectives on Environmental Law" (edited with David Robertson).

Telephone: 01799 526502
Email: john1@earthrights.org.uk