Our People

Tell me more about:

Jonathan Goolden

Jonathan is an experienced local government lawyer and a former senior public sector manager. He is the principal of Jonathan Goolden Solicitors.

He trained as a solicitor in Manchester, London and Brussels. He joined Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in 1991 undertaking prosecutions, social services, corporate and regeneration legal work. He moved to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council in 1993 as firstly a senior solicitor then a principal legal officer. Initially he undertook planning and corporate work, before managing a litigation and social services legal team under a compulsory competitive tendered contract. He was seconded to the Council’s Internal Inquiry team investigating serious corruption and misconduct amongst senior staff and councilors.

In 1999, Jonathan became Secretary and Solicitor to Derbyshire Dales District Council and it’s monitoring officer. He was appointed an acting chief officer for much of his time with the council. In 2000, he moved to Lincolnshire, becoming a Deputy Clerk and Monitoring Officer, then Clerk to Lincolnshire Police Authority. He left the Police Authority in 2004 to set up his own firm which he operates from a barn conversion on a farm near the Lincolnshire Wolds market town of Louth.

He was a member of the core drafting team for INLOGOV working on the modular constitutions project for English local government and has lectured widely on governance and ethical standards issues.

He is a member of the Council of Law Society, a member of the appeal panel of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and an independant member of Humberside Police Authority's Standards Committee. He is married to a local GP. They have three young children.

Useful Links - View hourly rates | Contact information