Solicitor and founder of Human Law
Meet your solicitor
Justin Patten — the Solicitor Behind Human Law
Justin Patten is a practising solicitor with more than 20 years’ experience in dispute resolution and private-client law.
I help executors and administrators understand what is holding an estate up, assess the evidence and identify a proportionate next step. When you book an assessment, your consultation and review are with me.
I also help beneficiaries request estate accounts and provide advice, correspondence or negotiation about a proposed change of executor before court proceedings. Read about executor replacement support.
Background and experience
Justin founded Human Law in 2002.
Justin previously worked as a legal adviser to Which? members for two years.
Why I Created This Service
Over more than 20 years as a solicitor, including a decade focused on probate disputes and elderly law, I have seen estates stall because facts are incomplete, communication has broken down or the appropriate procedural step is unclear.
My starting point is to separate those issues and establish what the records show. Depending on the circumstances, progress may come through information exchange, Registry procedure, negotiation or mediation preparation.
My practice deliberately focuses on resolving disputes out of court through advice, correspondence and negotiation, with separately agreed Probate Registry work where appropriate. I do not conduct litigation. Where court proceedings become necessary, I help prepare a clear handover to a litigation solicitor.
What Working With Me Involves
Understand the blockage
Establish the Grant position, the main disagreement and the documents needed to assess it.
Make the next step clear
The Dispute Assessment & Action Plan includes a 30-minute consultation, up to 40 selected core pages and a two-page assessment of the issue, evidence, approach, pathway and costs.
Keep scope and fees defined
Where the recommended work can be defined, I offer an overall fixed fee. Otherwise, I explain the anticipated overall budget alongside a fixed next-stage fee. Scope and price are agreed before further work begins.
Technology may help organise documents and chronologies. Legal conclusions and recommendations remain solicitor-led. Read the fees and scope.
Practical Guidance in Print
My Law Brief Publishing books are A Practical Guide to Elderly Law (2nd edition) and A Practical Guide to Elderly Fraud. I also wrote The Out-of-Court Executor: How to Defuse Family Disputes, Protect Yourself, and Settle the Estate.
Elderly Law: publisher’s book page → · Elderly Fraud: publisher’s book page →
Available now on Amazon
The Out-of-Court Executor
A concise diagnostic handbook for executors, administrators and the professionals advising them, built around Justin’s Six Pillars framework. Covers Registry procedures, estate accounts, costs of delay and proportionate next steps.
Buy on Amazon → About the book →Independent Media Coverage
Coverage of Human Law’s approach to stalled probate administrations and Justin’s practical legal writing.
Today’s Wills & Probate •
Solicitor releases practical guide on probate disputes and estate deadlock
Coverage of Justin’s The Out-of-Court Executor, its Six Pillars framework and practical guidance for executors, administrators and professional advisers.
Read the article →Solicitor transforms firm into “probate unblocking” service
Legal Futures reports on Human Law’s fixed-fee support for stalled probate matters and its work with referring firms.
Firm’s new statutory probate model aims to resolve deadlock without litigation
Today’s Wills & Probate examines Human Law’s structured approach to caveat standstills and administration deadlock, its use of defined procedural stages, and its fixed-fee entry point.
Bishop’s Stortford Independent • October 2026
Probate handbook and Human Law’s approach
The newspaper covered The Out-of-Court Executor and Human Law’s approach to stalled probate administrations. The feature explains how technology assists document organisation while legal assessment and recommendations remain solicitor-led.
Read the newspaper coverage →Published Articles
Solicitors Journal • 21 September 2026
Why legal AI should start with diagnosis, not drafting
My article examines how carefully governed technology can help organise evidence and identify gaps, while legal judgment and responsibility remain with the solicitor.
Read my article in Solicitors Journal →Start With Your Estate
Tell Justin briefly what is stuck, your role and any deadline. We check suitability and conflicts, then explain the proposed work and fixed fee before you decide. Where the work is clear, we can quote directly; the assessment is not compulsory. Please wait for instructions before sending documents.
Explore the free Problem Finder →
Instructing on behalf of a practice? See the separate professional review route.
Human Law helps through advice, correspondence, negotiation and agreed Probate Registry work. If your matter needs wider court proceedings, we can agree support with a specialist handover. Read about our services and scope. If a deadline or immediate risk is involved, seek prompt appropriate advice.