McAneny Lawyers criminal law practice is headed up by accredited criminal law specialist James Howell. James is an experienced solicitor who practices exclusively in criminal law and criminal defence litigation is the core of his legal skills. He is accredited by the Law Society of NSW as a criminal law specialist.

James has extensive experience throughout all court levels of criminal litigation including the conduct of Supreme Court bail applications, District Court sentence hearings and appeals, instructing in complex District Court & Supreme Court trials, preparing and instructing in Court of Criminal Appeal matters and litigating Local Court & Children’s Court defended hearings, sentence proceedings and traffic matters. James is available to provide consultation and legal advice to persons in custody or on remand at all metropolitan and regional correctional and remand centres.

James is highly sought after and regularly appears and provides representation for clients in regional areas and interstate. James is on the panel of approved solicitors for the Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales in General Crime, Children’s Court Crime, Indictable Crime and Serious and Complex Crime. James is willing and available to do Legal Aid work. James volunteers with the NSW Law Society Mock Trial Competition and the University of Wollongong Advocacy program as a magistrate and is also active in providing pro bono legal help and advice for disadvantaged members of our community. James often works alongside some of Australia’s top criminal barristers and has worked on many high profile cases.

When he is not busy defending clients he is often found surfing the waves around the Illawarra and South Coast and snowboarding the peaks of Australia, Japan and beyond.