James qualified as a solicitor in 2005 and has been a member of the data protection practices of Pinsent Masons (where he trained) and DLA Piper before joining Barclays Bank to become its group privacy legal counsel in 2009.
In 2012, James joined Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe to help build and establish its data protection and cyber security business. He subsequently joined the leadership team of PwC’s data protection business in 2016.
James has over 16 years legal experience advising on technology and data protection matters and is recognised by the legal directories (Chambers and Legal500) for his subject matter expertise.
At DWF, James will work alongside Global Head of Data Protection and Cyber Security, Stewart Room, and the wider leadership team to help lead and grow the data protection and cyber security business in the UK and globally. Drawing on his substantial experience, James will advise clients across a range of sectors and at different stages of business development to address their data protection requirements.
James’s practice will include providing strategic and operational advice in relation to: privacy compliance programmes; implementing and assessing privacy controls; responding to data breaches, regulatory investigations and rights requests; the commercial use of data; and data protection assessments of new technologies.
Commenting on James’s appointment, Stewart Room, Partner and Global Head of Data Protection and Cyber Security, said, “We are delighted to be welcoming James to DWF. He is an extremely experienced data protection professional who brings with him technical legal excellence and a wealth of practical operational experience. James and I have worked together in different forms for over 8 years, I am therefore certain his addition will help us propel the practice forward.”
Speaking about his role with the firm, James said, “I am excited to be joining an extremely ambitious organisation and being part of its growth. As a global legal business, DWF provides an excellent platform to support clients across a full range of data protection matters providing legal, consultancy, technology and managed service solutions all under one roof. At DWF, we will be putting business minded data protection subject matter experts at the heart of what we do. We aim to become the number one destination for our clients as they grapple with the practicalities and complexities associated with data protection in modern business. I am very much looking forward to working with my new colleagues to achieve this.”
