History

Hammicks Legal Bookshops acquired their name from Charles Cyril Wilmott Hammick who opened Hammicks Bookshops Ltd in 1968. After a partial takeover of the company by Associated Book Publishers PLC in 1973, ABP transferred the retail law bookselling interests of Sweet & Maxwell Spon (Booksellers) Ltd to Hammicks Bookshops Ltd in 1975 and the bookshop located in Chancery Lane was rebranded Hammicks, Sweet & Maxwell. In 1986, the bookshop in Chancery lane was relocated to its current location in Fleet Street. In 1992, a management buy in was headed by Vincent Campbell, the Head Office of Hammicks Bookshops Ltd was set up in Hounslow and the Hammicks Legal Bookshops brand was established. The Legal Mail Order and Subscriptions operations were combined and moved into Hounslow, as well.

The Manchester legal bookshop was opened in August 1993, followed by the creation of the Legal Division in November of that year, headed by Ian Brushwood. This was a time of rapid expansion for Hammicks and saw the release of the first Hammicks Legal Bookshops catalogue in autumn 1993. Following the rebranding of Hammicks Legal Bookshops, a further shop was opened in Bristol and 1999 saw the launch of Hammicks Legal Bookshops online. The most recent changes have seen John Smith & Son acquire Hammicks Legal Bookshops to form part of the professional division of John Smith & Son Group Ltd, together with the John Smith’s Bookshops, Hammicks Education Bookshop and Hammicks BMA Medical Bookshop.

Over the years Hammicks has established itself as the leading retailer of legal publications in the UK and continues to expand, becoming a well known international brand. Hammicks Legal Bookshops can be found in Fleet Street, London, Manchester and Glasgow. Hammicks Subscriptions Service is based in Ashford, Middlesex and the Head Office is in Ringwood, Hampshire.

About our Website

We hold an impressive range of stock covering all law subjects for both the student market and legal practitioners. Experienced and knowledgeable staff are on hand to deal with your order and advise on stock availability, and can order direct from the publisher any title in print which is not currently held in stock.

Although we carry a wide range of stock, inclusion of a title on this website does not guarantee that we have a copy on the shelf - some titles have to be ordered in from the publisher before despatch. Publishers typically take around 7 days to supply us with these titles, but this can vary considerably. The 'availability' status on the website is the latest information we have from the publisher regarding their stock (eg. In Print, Not Yet Published, Out of Print). Please email or telephone if you require more information about the expected delivery time for a particular title. Current stock availability is always shown where possible (ranging from ‘No Stock’ to ‘Plenty of Stock’).

You can view your order history from the 'My Details' link on the left of each page on the site (you will need to be logged in); for specific information about the progress of an outstanding order contact us by email. If you are contacting us about a particular title that you've seen on this website, please remember to quote the ISBN (10 or 13 digit product code) that is listed on all product pages.

We hope you enjoy browsing the online Hammicks Legal Bookshop - now with a catalogue of 90,000 titles across the full range of legal disciplines.