James is a civil disputes specialist who joined Wards' Bradley Stoke office in September 2006 and was made Office Manager in 2008. He qualified as a solicitor in 1997 and has over 10 years' experience of all aspects of civil litigation. Prior to joining Wards, he worked for Bevans Solicitors in Bristol, from 2001.

He acts for a wide range of businesses and private individuals, handling disputes ranging from breach of supplier contract and shareholder disagreements, to professional negligence issues.

James has a particular interest and expertise in the area of mediation and qualified as a trained Mediator with ADR Group in 2004. Click here for information on our mediation services. Examples of cases in which he has acted as a Mediator include disputes:

• between landowners and developer over trespass
• over sale of livestock alleged to be unhealthy
• between family members regarding undue influence over the deceased’s will
• concerning a holiday personal injury claim on behalf of a minor with a complex third party claim

Examples of mediation cases where James has acted as representative to one party include:

• negligence claim against personal injury solicitors (six figure sum)
• Financial Services negligent reference claim (six figure sum)
• Financial Services commission accounting claim (six figure sum)
• joint venture dispute between an estate agent and letting agent
• acting for multiple shareholders in a dispute on company sale warranties (seven figure sum)
• acting for the minority shareholder/director in a split from the family company  (six figure sum)

James is also experienced in firearms law issues and has been advising clients in this area for a number of years. He owns shotguns and rifles and has been a British Association for Shooting and Conservation member for 20 years. He has written articles for national publications such as Countryman's Weekly and Sporting Gun. Click here for information on our firearms law services.

He comments: “Dispute resolution is the key to all the instructions we handle. We always work closely with our clients to try to achieve the best possible solution to their claim, whether that means using mediation or proceeding through the Courts”.