James Kirby is a Chancery barrister with experience across all areas of Chambers’ expertise including Private Client (Contentious and Non-Contentious); Capital Taxes; Court of Protection; and Property.
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.
Property
James has a particular interest in the ownership and occupation of trust and estate property.
His experience in property-related matters includes:
- Appearing successfully to strike out a TOLATA claim relating to a family home as an abuse of process
- Appearing in a two-day interim application in a high-value mortgage possession claim in the High Court (led by Jonathan Gavaghan)
- Applying successfully for land to be vested in a residents’ management company under the Insolvency Act 1986
- Appearing at a disposal hearing of a Part 8 claim for an order for sale
- Drafting Particulars of Claim in a dispute concerning breach of trust by the vendor of a property
- Advising on a proposed application for an order for sale under TOLATA
- Successfully opposing a tenant’s application for an injunction against a landlord
- Residential possession proceedings under s.8 and s.21 of the Housing Act 1988
- Possession proceedings against trespassers (commercial and residential), including interim possession orders
- Representing a mortgagor’s tenant in mortgage possession proceedings
- Appearing in the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber (Residential Property)
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
‘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.
