James Kirby is a Chancery barrister with a particular interest in private client work (both contentious and non-contentious), Court of Protection and capital taxes.
James appears regularly in the High Court and County Court, and has also appeared in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and the Court of Protection. He is equally happy being instructed on his own account or as a junior within a wider team.
Before becoming a barrister, James was a Research Fellow in History at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Court of Protection
James has a strong interest in Court of Protection work. He is an editor of the Court of Protection Law Reports and was a founding committee member of the Court of Protection Bar Association.
Recent experience includes:
- Acting for the Official Solicitor in urgent statutory will applications
- Advising on the calling in of a deputy’s bond on grounds of professional negligence
- Acting (as junior counsel) in a complex and high-value property and affairs dispute
- Advising on the effect of loss of capacity on a beneficiary’s “right to reside” in trust property
- Drafting advice regarding professional negligence and the creation and abuse of Lasting Powers of Attorney
Qualifications
- Bar Professional Training Course (Outstanding), City Law School (2017)
- Graduate Diploma in Law (Distinction; Equity & Trusts Prize), City Law School (2016)
- Princess Royal Scholarships, Inner Temple (BPTC and GDL)
- DPhil in History, Balliol College, Oxford (2014)
- MSt in History (Distinction), Balliol College, Oxford (2011)
- BA in History (First Class – highest in university), Balliol College, Oxford (2010)
Associations & Memberships
- Member of the Chancery Bar Association
- Member of the Court of Protection Bar Association
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Publications
James is an editor of the forthcoming edition of Williams on Wills (11th edn)
‘Tax Planning in the Court of Protection’, Lawskills (Sep. 2018)
James has also published a number of articles in leading historical journals and a book (on 19th-century religious history) with Oxford University Press.
James Kirby is a self-employed, independent barrister whose practice is regulated by the Bar Standards Board [Bar Council Ref 69244]. He is fully insured with the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund [BMIF Ref 2360/079] to provide legal services, please refer to the BMIF website for full details of the world-wide cover provided. He is registered for VAT under the reference 304589790.
