Michael James

• Property Law
• Estates

Michael represents claimants and defendants in all aspects of landlord and tenant, commercial and residential matters.  His experience in property work includes easements, boundary disputes, restrictive covenants, service charges, property related torts and equitable rights and interests.

He is also an experienced counsel in partnership disputes, trusts, the administration of estates and intestacy disputes.

In addition to his busy property practice, Michael deals with commercial and company law proceedings. 

Michael undertakes all forms of consumer and commercial contract disputes, including the drafting of shareholder agreements, sale agreements and IP licences. Michael accepts instructions in individual and corporate insolvency matters, including contesting winding up petitions, administration petitions and other insolvency applications.

Michael has become one of the foremost minority shareholder dispute practitioners in the North Eastern circuit.  He successfully acted for the petitioner in Re Watercor Ltd [2017] EWHC 1814, an unfair prejudice claim involving a quasi-partnership company.  It was held that the court may assume that a purchaser would have included a formula taking into account subsequent performance.

Michael has wide ranging experience in consumer credit.

When claims for PPI first arose in the early 2010s, Michael took a role in drafting the early templates for pleadings under s.140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for a local firm of solicitors which arose oput of the then leading case of Harrison v Black Horse [2011] EWCA Civ 1128. He has since appeared on behalf of defendants in PPI, mortgage mis selling and a wide range of other credit matters.

• Called to the Bar in 1989