Profile
James trained in the City, qualifying with SJBerwin in 1998 as a real estate lawyer. He moved to what is now the international firm Womble Bond Dickinson, becoming a partner in 2008 and an equity partner in 2010.
Partnership wasn’t for him, and in 2012, he backed himself to join and grow a legal start-up, The Legal Director. TLD was one of the early wave of “platform” law firms, fully regulated but giving entrepreneurial lawyers the tools, the brand and the environment to grow their own practices on their terms. James left TLD in 2025, at which point the business had c£7m turnover, 50+ lawyers, and was the UK’s largest provider of fractional general counsel to businesses.
As well as continuing to practice for a lot of the time whilst at TLD, James built and ran TLD’s recruitment function; led and managed teams across the business; helped develop go-to-market strategies; helped guide overall strategy and refine and improve operational processes.
Just before joining DSW, James was providing recruitment and general strategic guidance to several small law firms.