James is a commercial property lawyer. He qualified at City of London firm Ince & Co in 2002 before joining leading national firm Burges Salmon LLP in Bristol. In 2009 he became a partner in a commercial law firm in the North West. In 2012 James moved to Austria as senior legal Counsel to Immofinanz AG, one of the biggest property investors in Europe. At Immofinanz James was responsible for the largest office portfolio in Poland as well as M&A and special projects across the CEE and the U.S. James has supported all kinds of clients – from small businesses and entrepreneurs to multinationals, banks and state entities.
As well as being technically strong and commercially astute, James gives clients clear and pragmatic advice. His work often requires him to meet demanding deadlines.
James has in-depth experience of handling the international elements of large commercial property transactions having helped clients operate in over 22 jurisdictions.
James speaks fluent German.
James was elected to the Board of Governors of the Vienna International School in May 2022 and appointed Vice-Chairman in May 2023.
James’ experience includes:
- Advising some of the largest landlords in the UK, including The Crown Estate, National Trust, National Grid Property Holdings and various investment funds.
- Advising small companies and entrepreneurs on their commercial property needs in London and across the UK, which has included:
- advising a new restaurant chain on the acquisition of a number of leasehold retail premises across London and the new lease of a warehouse distribution centre.
- advising a national retailer on the acquisition of new retail premises nationwide structured as new leases, assignments of leases and purchases of freeholds (including both asset sales and corporate acquisitions).
- advising a national Care Home Group on the acquisition of both office and care home premises across the UK.
- advising on the acquisition and disposal of various property-based companies including hotels, petrol stations and retail companies.
- Advising banks on lending to property developers, property investors, landed estates and small businesses.
- Leading property-based M&A deals worth over EUR 1.4BN, including two of the largest deals of the last several years in Central Europe:
- sale of the Trigranit international property portfoilio (EUR 550M).
- sale of the Silesia Center, Poland (EUR 412M).
- acquisition of Empark Business Park, Poland (EUR 140M).
- sale of a property portfolio in Texas and Arizona, USA (US $250M).
Reviews:
“James has been more than generous – he has really been amazing at guiding me through this process.” – Claire Goodwin Director CG Consultancy
“I just wanted to say thank you for your help throughout this purchase. James and the firm were immensely professional and made the process painless.” – AB
