James Brown 

Managing Partner

James is named as a Leading Expert in the independent directory Chambers and Partners and leading individual in Legal 500.  This year’s guide describes him as “winning the confidence of his clients and the respect of his peers.  He goes straight to the issues and give each client 100%”.

James has expertise in all aspects of family law but specialises in divorce involving complex financial issues. He has acted for and advised a wide range of clients from teachers, doctors and lawyers through to celebrities. He has particular expertise advising entrepreneurs and their ex-partners/spouses having acted in cases involving £100,000 up to £900 million at every level from Magistrates Court to Supreme Court. James strives to protect his client’s privacy despite acting for high profile clients.

James’ reported cases include the Supreme Court case of Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60 – a technically complex case and one of a handful of family law cases deemed significant enough to be heard by the Supreme Court and Giggs v Giggs [2017] EWHC 822 when James acted for Stacey Giggs (wife of professional sportsman Ryan Giggs).

He trained and worked at London’s leading family law firm prior to returning home to Manchester in 2007. He joined Pannone to work with the renowned Beth Wilkins before moving to JMW in November 2011 and becoming a Partner. Together with Sam Hall, James founded Hall Brown in April 2016. Within two and a half years the firm had been ranked in Tier 1 of Legal 500 and named one of the country’s Best Law Firms by The Times newspaper.

He prides himself on his accessible, no-nonsense approach. He is a robust and thorough advocate for his clients and is not afraid to be firm when required. However, as Chambers and Partners guide acknowledges, “he thinks creatively about solutions,” to bring his clients resolution as swiftly and painlessly as possible.

He is a regular contributor to both print and broadcast media including BBC Breakfast, News at 10, Channel 4 news, ITV news, the Victoria Derbyshire show, The Today Programme, World at 1, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 live, Radio Manchester, LBC radio, the Daily Telegraph, Independent, Financial Times, Daily Mail and Guardian.

He has also written for various legal publications including The Solicitor’s Gazette, Family Law, LexisNexis and Family Law Week. James also lectures to other lawyers and professionals and has spoken at The College of Law and Manchester Law Society.

 Accreditations