James Turner KC

James has particular expertise in high net worth financial ancillary relief work (he appeared as leading counsel in the House of Lords in both White v White and Miller v Miller), with his cases often involving trusts, corporate law, and tax (such as the Imerman/Tzchenguiz matter), and international jurisdictional issues (such as Mittal v. Mittal).  James is leading counsel for ‘Resolution’ in the forthcoming Supreme Court case of Owens v Owens.

James has also appeared in financial ancillary relief cases in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and is instructed in such matters from Hong Kong and Jersey.

James has for many years been ranked by all of the legal directories as a leading silk in the field of matrimonial finance.

For a full list of James’ reported cases, click here. His notable finance cases include:

• White v. White [2001] A.C. 596, HL.
• Miller v. Miller; McFarlane v. McFarlane [2006] 2 A.C. 618, HL.
• Mittal v. Mittal [2014] 2 W.L.R. 1033, CA.
• Harb v. King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz [2005] 2 F.L.R. 1109, CA.
• Imerman v. Imerman [2010] EWCA Civ 908, CA.
• Crossley v. Crossley [2008] 1 F.L.R. 1467, CA. ·
• Judge v. Judge [2009] 1 F.L.R. 1287, CA.
• Miller Smith v. Miller Smith [2009] 1 F.L.R, 1402, CA.
• Miller Smith v. Miller Smith (No. 2) [2010] 2 F.L.R 351 (Baker J).

James has a pre-eminent reputation as one of the leading silks in the country in complex international child abduction cases. James has made six appearances in this field in the House of Lords/Supreme Court, the most recent of which are A. v. A. [2014] and In Re LC (Children) [2014] [full citations below]. He has appeared as a speaker on family law issues at Conferences in England and Bermuda.

For a full list of James’ reported cases, click here. His notable child abduction cases include:

• In Re LC (Children) [2014] UKSC 1, SC.
• A. v. A. and another (Children: Habitual Residence) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre and others intervening) [2014] A.C. 1, SC.
• In Re E. (Children) (Abduction: Custody Appeals)[2012] 1 A.C. 144, SC.
• In Re S. (A Child)[2012] 2 W.L.R. 721, SC.
• In re H. (a Minor) (Abduction: Rights of Custody) [2000] 2 A.C. 291, HL.
• In re D. (a child) (Abduction: Rights of Custody) [2007] 1 A.C. 619, HL.

In Administrative Law, James’ practice has included membership of the Supplementary Panel of Treasury Counsel when he was a junior, and he appeared in that capacity in many high profile cases. His judicial review work after he took silk has included representation of the Home Secretary in the Pinochet case, and appearances in other cases in courts which have included the House of Lords.

For a full list of James’ reported cases, click here. His notable Administrative Law cases include:

• Sheldrake v. DPP; Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 4 of 2002) [2005] 1 A.C. 264, HL.
• R. v. Manchester Stipendiary Magistrate and another, ex p. Granada Television Ltd [2001] 1 A.C. 300, HL.
• R. (O.) v. Crown Court at Harrow [2007] 1 A.C. 249, HL.
• R. v. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p. Fininvest and others (Berlusconi) [1997] 1 W.L.R. 743, DC.
• R. v. Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, ex p. Shayler [1999] 1 Cr.App.R. 355, DC.
• In Re Pinochet Ugarte, International Law Reports (Vol. 119) 27, DC

James has acted in a number of leading criminal cases.  For a full list, click here.

In addition, James has for very many years been a contributing editor of “Archbold: Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice”.

His work in the field of Criminal Law includes both prosecuting and defending, with particular experience of technical, procedural and human rights points. He has been instructed many times on behalf of medical professionals in both criminal and Professional Disciplinary proceedings, including representation of a forensic pathologist in long-running professional disciplinary proceedings arising out of the “Sally Clarke” case.

James is hugely experienced in the field of matrimonial finance and welcomes instructions to sit in a quasi-judicial capacity at a ‘Private FDR’.