Profile

Chambers High Net Worth ‘Family Lawyer of the Year 2018’, the ‘very impressive’ James Stewart is ‘warm and engaging’ with ‘astonishing skills in international financial matters’. Recognised in all the legal directories as a ‘leading individual’, James is a Resolution accredited specialist family lawyer. Spear’s Magazine describes him as ’one of the most visible faces in UK family law’ and, in the words of a leading QC, ‘James is undoubtedly one of the leaders in family law globally. Not only is he highly respected by his peers, he is loved by his clients and has amazing interpersonal skills in the most difficult of situations. He is also someone who gives back and, despite being extremely busy, finds time to support a number of charitable causes.’ James has also featured in the Tatler Address Book, in its family law advisory section.

James has acted in many groundbreaking family law cases including Clibbery v Allan [2002], to date the only family case to go to the Court of Appeal on the issue of privacy and press reporting. He is a former Times ‘Lawyer of the Week’ following what was the first case in British legal history where a judge was persuaded to refer a family law dispute to a religious court. He ‘shines in complex cases that need strategic vision, diligent execution and a motivated, able team’.

A Fellow, former Governor and Parliamentarian of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), James is general editor of the definitive text on the field of comparative international family law, Family Law: A Global Guide (Thomson Reuters, fourth edition, 2018). He is a family arbitrator, a collaborative lawyer and one of a small group of leading family lawyers, QCs and senior judges who serve on the family law consultation board of Practical Law.

James co-chairs the Annual Legal Dinner which has become one of the leading social events in London’s legal calendar and which raises funds for the leading peace building charity, Co-operation Ireland.