Call: 2017
"Conspicuously clear and cogent submissions."
Zacaroli LJ in Nazir v Begum [2025] EWCA Civ 587
Williams on Wills (11th edition, 2021) (with Francis Barlow KC, Susannah Meadway and James MacDougald).
‘Drawing a Veil? Privacy and Anonymity in Trusts and Capacity Proceedings’, Trusts & Trustees, 2023, vol. 29, 760-768 (with Georgia Bedworth).
‘Can delay defeat a probate claim?’, Private Client Business, 2023, 4, 158-164.
‘Statutory Wills and Probate Disputes: Contested Wills in the Court of Protection’, Private Client Business, 2022, 3, 104-111 (with Richard Dew).
‘Tax Planning in the Court of Protection’, Lawskills (Sep. 2018).
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.
James Kirby is a Chancery barrister with a practice focused on Trusts and Estates, Court of Protection and Private Client Tax.
He is ranked as a ‘Rising Star’ by the Legal 500 2025 for Private Wealth and Probate.
James’s recent cases include:
James was appointed to the Attorney General’s C Panel in 2023.
James is an editor of Williams on Wills (11th edition, 2021), a contributor to the Court of Protection Law Reports and answers Questions for Counsel on mental capacity issues for Practical Law.
Before becoming a barrister, James was a Fellow in History at Trinity College, Cambridge.
James has a wide experience of trust and estate disputes, both domestic and offshore.
Notable cases include:
James’s trust litigation experience includes:
James’s probate and estates litigation experience includes:
A significant part of James’s practice involves advising clients in relation to wills, trusts and estates, as well as drafting trust documents and other instruments. His experience includes:
James also writes occasionally as a private client expert for LexisNexis.
James has significant experience in Court of Protection applications, acting for deputies, attorneys, private individuals and the Official Solicitor.
James’s notable cases in the Court of Protection include:
James is frequently instructed in private client tax matters, both contentious and non-contentious. His work here includes:
James also has significant experience of tax litigation. He has appeared four times in the Court of Appeal in tax disputes, each worth tens or hundreds of millions of pounds, and has addressed the court as junior counsel on two of those occasions. He has also appeared in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). He is currently instructed in a tax appeal to the Supreme Court. His reported cases include:
James has significant experience in advising and representing clients in relation to real property, often in relation to trusts and estates.
Key cases include:
James is regularly instructed to advise on issues of charity law, often in the context of wills, trusts, tax or property issues. His experience includes:
James has significant experience of offshore trusts litigation, including complex and high-value multi-jurisdictional disputes. His experience includes:
James advises on partnership and LLP law, especially in relation to trusts and estates.
He has also acted as junior counsel in LLP tax cases, including HFFX LLP v HMRC [2024] EWCA Civ 813, [2024] STC 1371, HMRC v BlueCrest Capital Management LP [2023] EWCA Civ 1481, and BCM Cayman Ltd v HMRC [2024] 1 WLR 1980. These appeals raise significant points of law concerning profit allocations and the nature of a member’s interest in an LLP.
The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Begum v Nazir [2025] EWCA Civ…
Ten Old Square will hold a live webinar with Q&A featuring James Kirby and Adam…
James Kirby was instructed as junior counsel for the successful appellant, HMRC. The Court of…