James is a widely experienced Queen’s Counsel with a Sports Law practice focusing, in particular, on civil actions arising from failures of safeguarding in football and other sports.  

He is currently acting for many claimants in historical and more recent sex abuse claims against football clubs and other sporting bodies, together with religious organisations, schools, the scouts and against.  He acted for the successful claimant in the first successful historic sex abuse case against the Jehovah’s Witness organisation in 2015 (A v Watchtower Bible and Tract Society [2015] EWHC 1722 (QB; [2015] All ER (D) 249 (Jun)) and is currently representing the survivors of abuse committed by Barry Bennell in multiple claims against Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra and by Frank Roper against Blackpool Football Club.  He also has cases against Chelsea FC involving high profile allegations of racist abuse against two former employees, a youth coach and its youth manager.  Apart from the case of DSN referred to here, he has recently successfully acted for the Claimant in a second trial against the Jehovah’s Witnesses BXB v Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and another [2020] 4 WLR 42 – judgment handed down on 30 January 2020.