About
James specialises in all disputes relating to the use and occupation of land. He also has a significant advisory practice aimed at dispute avoidance. He has a wide-ranging client base which includes developers, investors, corporate, leisure and retail occupiers and high-net-worth individuals. He has considerable experience acting for clients in the higher courts and specialist property tribunals.
James has carved a niche acting for London Estates and in doing has earned a reputation as a market-leader in the world of enfranchisement. He also provides strategic advice to the owners of London Estates on asset management and portfolio diversification.
James has a particular interest in rights of light and development related advisory. He is a member of the executive committee of the UK chapter of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and is ranked as a ‘Leading Individual' in The Legal 500.
James is admitted to practise in England and Wales.
Experience
- Acting for a joint venture partnership in proceedings in the High Court seeking a rights of light injunction against a neighbouring developer. The case involved numerous contested interim applications and hearings. The trial was set to review all aspects of the law of rights of light and settled shortly before trial. (Adjoin Ltd v Fortytwo House SarL [2022] EWHC 2710 (Ch))
- Acting for Scottish Widows on a multi-million-pound damages claim by a tenant of a trading estate on the outskirts of London. The tenant succeeded in the High Court but the decision was subsequently reversed by the Court of Appeal
- Acting for the Howard de Walden Estate in relation to the management of its London Estate including a variety of ground-breaking claims which have helped to clarify the law in relation to the enfranchisement of flats
- Advising the Direct Line Group in relation to the successful exercise of a complex conditional break clause in the lease of a large office building in Bristol.
