James is a Senior Solicitor in private client. He joined Macfarlanes in 2014 from a leading law firm where he held a senior position with one of the UK’s highest ranked immigration teams. James provides specialist immigration advice to a range of clients including FTSE100 companies, Small and Medium Enterprises, Higher Education Institutions and High Net Worth Individuals. He provides strategic consultancy advice to major companies on immigration matters in a variety of sectors and supports UK start-ups through the sponsor licence application process. He also helps to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Points Based System (PBS) and the illegal working legislation. James has assisted companies and Higher Education Institutions in their discussion with the Home Office following the threat of actual downgrading / suspension of their sponsor licences, ensuring they retain their licences and have the policies and processes to maintain ongoing compliance. James has been heavily involved in the evolution of the PBS, drafting discussions papers for the Home Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on key policy areas such as advertising, internships, settlement and business visitors. James has also led discussion groups with Government Ministers on immigration and works closely with various bodies including the Greater London Authority. James has assisted with a number of investor and entrepreneur applications as well as complex family, permanent residence and naturalisation applications, including those involving adoption. James also regularly advises on European Free Movement issues and UK outbound immigration applications. James is a regular speaker at conferences, writes articles for leading immigration publications and has been quoted in the national press.