All articles by John Greenwood

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Expect the unexpected

    22 October 2018

    A reminder that anything can happen in the courtroom. 

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Easy does it in the modern office

    9 July 2018

    The other day, as I paid a visit to the old firm, a sepulchral calm appeared to have descended on the family department.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Keeping a civil tongue

    4 June 2018

    Suddenly being thrust into civil law, including family cases, is no joke.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    ​Meagre returns

    21 May 2018

    Criminal barristers and solicitors should be paid fairly.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Career path for criminal law

    5 March 2018

    Retired criminal lawyer John Greenwood reflects on the position of trainee criminal law solicitors and barristers.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Full disclosure – at last?

    12 February 2018

    Criminal lawyers will have been horrified by the revelations about non-disclosure of evidence helpful to the defence.

  • Opinion

    Stay lucky

    15 January 2018

    A dignitary interviewed on the radio the other day was asked what had been the most important factor in his life – the answer was luck. Looking back on a long legal career, I realise how vital this was. I was lucky after National Service, knowing virtually nothing about the ...

  • Opinion

    ​Court is no laughing matter

    8 January 2018

    While it is always dangerous to underestimate how seriously a court may view your case, it can be equally risky to make a joke, however well-intentioned.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    It’s a dog’s life

    27 November 2017

    There seems to be an increasing trend to take your pooch to the office. Indeed, one firm boasts as many as three office dogs on its website.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    ​Blame game

    20 November 2017

    I suppose it rarely crosses the minds of property or commercial lawyers that they may create enmities sufficient to provoke violence. For criminal lawyers, there is the reassurance that they are on the side of those who might harbour and carry out violent acts. For the family lawyer it can ...

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Too few judges

    23 October 2017

    It is a strange little world, that of the deputy district judge, particularly those retired who come back and sit a few times a month. Every month a list is sent out of perhaps a hundred unfilled court sittings around the country. It is first come, first served for venues. ...

  • Letters
    Opinion

    A gilded age for lawyers?

    2 October 2017

    There is a growing tendency for the current generation of lawyers to cast a somewhat jaundiced eye on those of us of an earlier time. They may well have a point. The past is indeed a different country; we did things very differently there. How did we ever justify the ...

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Short-sighted

    4 September 2017

    The new lord chancellor should increase the retirement age for the senior judiciary to 75. I shall never forget the frustration of having to retire as a recorder at 65 when I felt that after 15 years or so I had at last gained the experience, particularly in family cases, ...

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Family affairs

    31 July 2017

    Courts still clung to the principle of the wife’s right to lifelong maintenance.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Closure fallout

    24 July 2017

    Consequences of court closures to be felt.

  • Opinion

    No respect for the judicial role

    17 July 2017

    Who would want to be a judge now?

  • Letters
    Opinion

    ​‘Short’ Sharp shock

    3 July 2017

    I do not envy divorce lawyers having to advise clients in a ‘short’ marriage following the Sharp decision.

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Erosion of a lawyer's role

    26 June 2017

    Civil litigation lawyers will have taken note of Lord Faulks’ call for regulation of third-party funding. Taking an entirely dispassionate view, the factor that stands out for me is the erosion of the lawyer’s position when faced with the influence of a third party having no direct interest in the ...

  • Opinion

    Millions to juggle with

    5 June 2017

    Family laywers have enough to worry about.

  • Opinion

    ​Monitoring for signs of stress?

    3 April 2017

    I have become concerned by cases involving friends and former colleagues who appeared to have burnt out and suffered breakdowns.