Hassan Shah

I completed a joint honours degree in Law & Politics (LLB) at the University of Keele in 1996 before obtaining a Masters in International Human Rights & EC Law (LLM) at Kings College, London. I undertook my Legal Practice Course at Nottingham Trent before qualifying as a Solicitor in 2001.

I have run large caseloads of civil litigation, enabling me to confidently process significant volumes of documents and to consider complex issues.

I am adept at interviewing witnesses and conducting investigations.

I am a confident advocate, appearing at County Court on a weekly basis. Whilst I do not have higher rights of audience, I have appeared in the High Court on a handful of occasion. I have been involved in countless trials over the years and I am well used to Court etiquette and managing witnesses.

I have been in practice during a number of landmark changes in civil procedure including Lord Woolf’s 1999 reforms, the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules and Lord Jackson’s recent recommendations. I have learned to adapt on each occasion.

In my current role, I am partner of SP Law Solicitors. I am one of two founding partners, who together set up the practice in 2005. We merged with Martin Adams & McColl Solicitors in 2011 and the firm now has 4 partners and around 22 employees. As a result of the firm’s robust management processes, we have attained the Law Society’s coveted Lexcel accreditation every year since 2010.

I was appointed Assistant Coroner in 2014. I liaise with the Police on a daily basis in order to determine whether cases of sudden death need any further investigation. I am also responsible for authorising post-mortems, histology and toxicology. Once per month, I preside over inquests at Court, hearing evidence on oath, making findings of fact and delivering conclusions (verdicts).

I have a wide network of professional contacts across the County. I have worked closely with Northants Community Police since 2005. I was awarded Certificate of Appreciation in 2012 by the Assistant Chief Constable for my community work. I am a former member of Police Independent Advisory Group and the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Office for Faith Based Initiatives. I have in recent years provided training to local agencies in relation to preventing honour based violence.

I am former Chair and now Trustee of Northampton Inter-Faith Forum which represents Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Baha’i and Buddhist faiths. I am well connected in each of these communities and equipped to handle any faith specific issues.

In January 2014, I completed a charity sleep out at Christ Church on Wellingborough Road in order to raise funds for the Hope Centre, Northampton’s local homeless shelter. I also ran a Ramadan initiative to raise funds for Re:store in 2016.

The firm has been a member of the Northampton Community Foundation’s N100 scheme since 2014. I have been a regular attendee at grant panel meetings, having the honour of chairing on some occasions. I was delighted to be on the judging panel for the 2016 NCF awards. In September 2016, I was also appointed to the Board of Trustees.

In my spare time, I enjoy playing tennis for the Kings Park Club.

I speak fluent Urdu and Punjabi.

References are available upon request.