Legal Writing / Blog

Writing

Dan writes for various online and paper publications. He is a regular columnist for Halsbury’s Law Exchange and is also a regular contributor to Criminal Law & Justice Weekly and Criminal Bar Quarterly.

He is equally at home writing for academic journals as for mainstream media and is well known as someone who can be relied on to write good quality pieces on a tight timetable.

He also provides writing and editing copy for website, on a regular or ad-hoc basis, both credited and uncredited. Please contact him for details and rates. 

Below are some examples of writing that he has done for various publications. You should be able to access most for free. 

Blog

Dan was a founder of the UK Criminal Law Blog and was an editor and regular writer for it (it’s currently on a temporary hiatus and is not being updated). This is aimed at explaining the criminal law to the general public and was set up to counteract poor reporting in the newspapers and a widespread misunderstanding of what happens in our Courts. 

There are background pieces explaining criminal offences, criminal procedure and sentencing. It is updated almost daily explaining the facts behind the stories in the news.

This has quickly become a key resource, used not just by member of the public, but also lawyers and journalists. Clients appreciate the skills he has acquired in writing the blog  in explaining sometimes difficult legal concepts. He is frequently approached by news organisations to provide commentary and background information on criminal law stories.

As a result of his expertise in criminal and immigration law, he has established and runs the Immigration Offences Blog. This does what it says on the tin, giving fact sheets on immigration offences and procedure, as well as summarising and commenting on every new criminal and immigration case that comes before the higher Courts

Although this is primarily aimed at lawyers, it is read by some people who have found themselves on the wrong end of an immigration prosecution. 

Dan also has a personal blog in which he writes (fairly infrequently) about law, maths and occasionally other things that take his fancy.  

 
Sample Writing:

Academic / Professional –

  • Late Court Sittings – Criminal Bar Quarterly (Summer, 2017)
  • Access to justice for Black and Ethnic Minorities (Lexis Nexis, 2016)
  • When is a claim for benefits fraudulent from the start? – Criminal Law Review (Crim L R 2015, 332)
  • Has the approach to sentencing historical offences changed? Archbold Review (2015, 4) 
  • (Un)intended Consequences? (Practice Note) – Criminal Law and Justice Weekly (2015), 179(34), 8
  • Secret Trials – Criminal Bar Quarterly (2015)
  • ‘Grayling Day : Why I’m walking’ – Halsbury’s Law Exchange (2014)
  • ‘QASA – Questions to Answer’ – Criminal Bar Quarterly (2014)
  • ‘Anything Goes? Has Rahmdezfouli stemmed the march against formalism?’ Criminal Law and Justice Weekly (2013)

Other –

  • The CPS decision on Janner might please no-one, but it happens to be right – Justice Gap (2015)
  • Various columns – Halsbury’s Law Exchange 
  • QASA – part of a sustained attack on legal aid?’ – Legal Voice (2013)
  • ‘A Tax on Innocence’ – ‘Newsletter of the Society of Labour Lawyers’ (2012)

Sample Commentary: