James Kirby

"James is always on top of the details and a safe pair of hands to navigate fact-heavy matters through ever-evolving case law."

Legal 500 2025

Directories & Awards

Associations & Memberships

Chancery Bar Association
Court of Protection Bar Association
CoPPA (Court of Protection Practitioners’ Association)
ConTrA (Contentious Trusts Association)
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

Education & Qualifications

Bar Professional Training Course (Outstanding), City Law School (2017)
Graduate Diploma in Law (Distinction; Equity & Trusts Prize), City Law School (2016)
DPhil in History, Balliol College, Oxford (2014)
MSt in History (Distinction), Balliol College, Oxford (2011)
BA in History (First Class – highest of year; Gibbs Prize and Arnold Prize), Balliol College, Oxford (2010)

Publications

Williams on Wills (11^th 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).

Regulatory Information

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.

Significant cases in which James has been involved include:

HFFX LLP v HMRC [2024] EWCA Civ 813, [2024] STC 1371 (a high-value tax dispute concerning bonuses in the financial services sector)
James v Scudamore [2023] Ch 391 (a leading case establishing for the first time that a probate claim may be barred by delay)
Hinduja v Hinduja [2020] 4 WLR 93 (appointment of a litigation friend in an international family business dispute)

James was appointed to the Attorney General’s C Panel in 2023.

James is an editor of Williams on Wills (11^th 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.

Expertise

Contentious Trusts & Estates

James has a wide experience of trust and estate disputes, both domestic and offshore.

Notable cases include:

Re H’s Estate (2024). Acted for the successful applicant in a claim under the Forfeiture Act 1982. The applicant had forfeited her inheritance by assisting her godmother to travel to Switzerland for the purposes of assisted dying.
Re a Jersey Trust (2023). James was instructed as junior counsel in a high-value trust dispute concerning the ownership of a family business held in a Jersey trust.
James v Scudamore [2023] Ch 391. James acted for the defendant executor and beneficiary. The judge accepted his argument that a probate claim could be barred by the claimant’s delay in bringing the claim.
Re D’s Estate (2023). Represented the successful beneficiary in a probate claim which turned on whether a condition for the validity of a will had been satisfied.
Bridgmont v Zammit (2022): Represented the claimant in a 3-day trial at Central London County Court concerning the beneficial ownership and sale of a property formerly owned by the client’s deceased parents. The claim received media coverage in The Times and other newspapers.
The Hinduja litigation, a multi-jurisdictional dispute within one of Britain’s wealthiest families. This included Hinduja v Hinduja [2020] 4 WLR 93, concerning the appointment of a litigation friend.

James’s trust litigation experience includes:

Applications by trustees for directions, including Public Trustee v Cooper applications and Beddoe applications
Claims relating to constructive trusts and/or proprietary estoppel
Breach of trust claims
Applications under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA).
Applications for declarations as to the interpretation of trust documents
Applications under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958
Applications to remove trustees
Applications for provision of trust accounts
Claims to set aside or rectify deeds, wills and other documents

James’s probate and estates litigation experience includes:

Probate claims
Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claims
Applications to remove executors under s 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1925
Applications for relief from forfeiture for unlawful killing under the Forfeiture Act 1982
Claims concerning the interpretation of wills
Applications for directions concerning the administration of estates
Claims against executors for devastavit

Private Client (Non-Contentious)

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:

Advising on the interpretation of wills and trusts
Advising trustees on the exercise of their powers
Advising trustees and executors on the administration of trusts and estates
Drafting declarations of trust
Drafting deeds of appointment and other documents exercising dispositive powers
Drafting deeds of variation under s 142 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984
Applications under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958

James also writes occasionally as a private client expert for LexisNexis.

Court of Protection

James has significant experience in Court of Protection applications, acting for deputies, attorneys, private individuals and the Official Solicitor.

Notable Cases

Re MC (2024) – Representing the Official Solicitor at the final hearing of an urgent statutory will application.
Hinduja v Hinduja [2022] EWCA Civ 1492 – Permission to appeal hearing and skeleton argument; led by John McKendrick KC, concerning reporting restrictions in the Court of Protection.
Re H (2021) – Representing the respondent in an expedited statutory will application involving a disputed will and allegations of undue influence (with Richard Dew).
Re A – Representing a deputy in an application for the calling in of a previous deputy’s bond on grounds of professional negligence.
Re C – Representing the Official Solicitor in an application for an interim, and then final, statutory will.

Tax

James is frequently instructed in private client tax matters, both contentious and non-contentious. His work here includes:

Estate planning for individuals (including gifts, wills and the use of trusts)
Tax issues for trustees and personal representatives
Drafting trust instruments and other documents with a tax planning element
Private client tax disputes with HMRC
Advising on tax issues arising in trust and estate disputes (such as the tax-efficient settlement of claims under the Inheritance Act 1975)

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:

HMRC v BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP (salaried members rules)
HFFX LLP v HMRC [2024] EWCA Civ 813, [2024] STC 1371 (taxation of LLP profits)
HMRC v BlueCrest Capital Management LP [2023] EWCA Civ 1481 (taxation of LLP profits)
BCM Cayman Ltd v HMRC [2024] 1 WLR 1980 (Ramsay principle and taxation of LLPs and limited partnerships)
Odey Asset Management LLP v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 31 (TC) (taxation of LLP profits)

Property

James has significant experience in advising and representing clients in relation to real property, often in relation to trusts and estates.

Key cases include:

Re the W Trust: Advising a trustee in relation to a settlement under the Settled Land Act 1925.
Bridgmont v Zammit (County Court at Central London): Representing the claimant in a 3-day trial at Central London County Court concerning the beneficial ownership and sale of a property formerly owned by the client’s deceased parents. The claim received media coverage in The Times and other newspapers.
G v G: Striking out a TOLATA claim over a family home as an abuse of process in light of related family court proceedings (and representing the client successfully on appeal).
UBS AG v Rose Capital Ventures Ltd [2018] EWHC 3137 (Ch) [2019] 2 BCLC 47: high-value mortgage possession claim (with Jonathan Gavaghan).

Charities

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:

Advising and representing a large charity in a claim brought against it by one of its members in relation to a ticket scheme operated by the charity.
Advising and representing a charitable company in a claim brought against it by a donor seeking recovery of a donation on the basis of mistake.
Acting for charitable legatees in probate and estate disputes.
Advising a government department on whether a charity was an exempt charity or not.
Representing HMRC in a dispute with a charity.
Advising on whether a claim by a charity for an injunction constituted “charity proceedings” under s 115 of the Charities Act 2011.
Advising on the interpretation and effect of charitable gifts in wills.
Advising on whether a substantial lifetime transfer to a foreign charity might qualify for an exemption from IHT.

Offshore & International

James has significant experience of offshore trusts litigation, including complex and high-value multi-jurisdictional disputes. His experience includes:

Acting for the settlor in a disputed Public Trustee v Cooper application in very high-value trust proceedings in Jersey.
Drafting amended pleadings in a complex offshore trust dispute.
Drafting a skeleton argument in opposition to an anti-suit injunction in a trusts dispute.
Drafting written contentions in opposition to an application for permission to appeal in a privacy application.
Drafting a statement of case in a breach of trust claim relating to an employee benefit trust in the financial services industry.

Partnership & LLP

James has experience of advising 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.

"James is extremely concise and has a great ability to distil the law into user-friendly advice. He has considered judgement and inspires confidence."

Legal 500 2024

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