John Hardcastle General Information John joined Clerksroom in February 2019 as a civil practitioner with experience in the field of personal injury, credit hire (claimant and defendant) and commercial and consumer contract law. John also has some experience and a genuine interest in the field of property law and has some past experience in employment law. John is regularly instructed to appear in the County Court in small claims and fast-track matters and has a growing paper practice which naturally includes the drafting of documents and the provision of written advice at any stage in proceedings. John is prepared to consider instructions on a CFA basis in the right case and he is also qualified to accept instructions directly from members of the public. Prior to practising as a barrister, John was employed for 16 years as a full-time operational firefighter at busy city centre fire stations dealing with all manner of emergencies. It was whilst serving as a firefighter that John embarked upon a part-time law degree, eventually going on to qualify as a barrister in 2011. After qualifying as a barrister and before starting in practice, John taught law at undergraduate and postgraduate level at Sheffield Hallam University (teaching Equity and Trusts, Land Law and Intellectual Property Law) before accepting a prestigious fixed-term position as a Judicial Assistant in the Court of Appeal to Lord Dyson, the then Master of the Rolls, in 2012/13. When not practising, John’s interests are mainly in sport and fitness. John has a particular interest in triathlon and he regularly competes in events around the country and overseas. Qualifications: LLB (Hons) 1st Class – Sheffield Hallam University – 2010 BPTC – Very Competent, Nottingham Law School – 2011 Called to the Bar – Inner Temple – October 2011 Academic Prizes: 2010 – Sweet and Maxwell Law Prize, Sheffield Hallam University (Student achieving the highest marks on the LLB) 2008 – Russell, Jones & Walker Tort Law Prize, Sheffield Hallam University (Best student on the Tort Law Module) 2007 – Oxford University Press Award for Law, Sheffield Hallam University (Best 1st Year student on division’s law degrees) Other Awards: 2010 – Inner Temple Exhibition Award and Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Scholarship 2001 – Chief Fire Officer’s Commendation (South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue) – Rescue of a man from a 150-foot tower crane. 1993 – Recruit Instructors’ Award (Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue)