
Specialisms
- Asset Based Lending
- Collaborative Law
- Business & Commercial Law
- Employment Law
- Professional Practices
James O'Connell
Partner
James specialises in assisting businesses and anyone wanting to start a business. He also specialises in crypto-currencies and block chain.
If you want assistance with any aspect of business life then James would be delighted to speak with you, for example:
- Starting and running your business
- Guidance on tricky shareholder/management questions
- Protecting your assets through contract, trademarks or copyright
- Handling employment issues
- Writing or reviewing a wide variety of commercial contracts
- Anything connected with crypto-currencies or block chain generally.
Qualified as a solicitor in both England/Wales and Hong Kong, James has practiced law internationally and, in the City, (where he trained as a solicitor, qualified in 1988 and later worked for a private equity house). Having created and sold several companies himself, he understands the commercial and practical realities of setting up and running a business.
James was made Partner with the firm in April 2021.
James has had a varied career: he founded the Institute of Paralegals; was the first lay member of the City of Westminster Council’s Standards Committee and helped establish an Equality and Human Rights Commission working group to promote diversity in the professions.
He has made numerous presentations, including to the Vietnamese government on anti-counterfeiting law and was a member of a Hong Kong government advisory panel. He has published many articles and edited an FT Law & Tax book on management.
James has been very active in legal education, having been an Adjunct Professor to Syracuse University’s law school, an Associate Professor of Law at City University in Hong Kong and a law tutor for ICE at the University of Cambridge.
When not working James likes to relax to the point where, on occasion, he seems to be half man, half sofa. This doesn’t happen too often as he has a young family and Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society to contend with.
Specialisms:
- Business law
- Crypto-currencies & block chain
"Thanks for your expert help. You immediately understood the issues, which to me seemed fairly obscure, and proved to be calm and clear against the pressure of very tight deadlines."
Paul Fallon, September 2018
"Following an instruction to proceed in an unusual company law case James O’Connell has played a vital role in seeing the pursuit of correct legal procedures and protection of our company and its shareholders to a successful conclusion. He behaved with constant good humour, encouragement, prompt attention and exceptional wisdom throughout. He was not deterred by the fact that I had tried out my own legal findings on various other significant law firms beforehand. His comments were always in accessible language and I had every confidence in him from the start. He was even extremely polite in the face of close questioning about the fee structure. I have no hesitation in recommending his services to other potential clients."
R Thomson - May 2021
Our other partners
Alison Kinnersley
Partner
Call | 01293 649049
Email
Anna Dunn
Partner
Call | 01323 872509
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Barry Davis
Partner
Call | 01323 744412
Email
Charles Le May
Partner
Call | 01273 223274
Email
Chris Randall
Compliance Partner
Call | 01273 407445
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Chris Strutt
Partner
Call | 01323 745638
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Claire Busuttil
Partner
Call | 01323 745698
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David Gordon
Partner
Call | 01273 223210
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Dean Orgill
Chief Executive
Call | 01273 223224
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Edward Coxall
Partner
Call | 01323 745628
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Emma van Bunnens
Partner
Call | 01342 310604
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Fiona Dodd
Partner
Call | 01273 407414
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Gail Waller
Partner
Call | 01273 223227
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Grant Parker
Partner
Call | 01293 649040
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Helen Bell
Board Chair
Call | 01273 223257
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Jessica Partridge
Partner
Call | 01273 223203
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Jo Ironside
Partner
Call | 01273 407462
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Jonathan Clays
Partner
Call | 01273 407465
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Jonathan Porter
Partner
Call | 01323 872506
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Juliet Godfrey
Partner
Call | 01798 871065
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Karim Mohamed
Partner
Call | 01273 223223
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Lee Hills
Partner
Call | 01273 223232
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Martin Williams
Partner
Call | 01273 223263
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Melanie Minter
Partner
Call | 01273 223238
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Melissa Johnson
Partner
Call | 01273 223231
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Nick Garrish
Partner
Call | 01273 223211
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Nick Sanders
Partner
Call | 01273 407423
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Nick Walsh
Partner
Call | 01273 407401
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Rebecca Louis
Partner
Call | 01903 748190
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Samantha Dickinson
Partner
Call | 01273 223252
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Simon Baillie-Hamilton
Partner
Call | 07973 746734
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Tia Harrison
Partner
Call | 01323 745605
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Tracy Rowden
Partner
Call | 01323 872503
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