James Shiel

Senior Associate

photo for James Shiel

What can I do for you

James is a litigation lawyer, with a broad experience of handling disputes involving intellectual property, commercial / corporate matters and misuses of confidential information. This includes litigation in the High Court as well as the County Court, together with experience of alternative dispute resolution (particularly mediations) and sport related disputes.

James was recently appointed as the Chairperson of the British Swimming judicial appeals panel for a term of four years. He is also the Panel Legal Advisor to Swim England's judicial panel.

What do others say

The General Counsel of a technology company noted that James provided “fantastic support” coupled with “hard work [and] enthusiasm”.

On another matter where James was the lead associate on a complex technology dispute, which involved mediation and extensive without prejudice negotiations, the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the client commented that the outcome was: “Great news and outstanding work by Mills & Reeve. Very impressed”.

Supporting your ambitions

James’ dispute resolution experience spans across a number of sectors (technology, life sciences, sport, education, charities, government and health). As part of James’ training to become a qualified solicitor, he completed a three-month secondment to the in-house legal team of a life sciences company. In 2020, James completed an additional secondment where he provided a mixture of advisory and transactional work for a technology company which operates in over 100 countries.

What else should you know?

James completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law & Practice at the University of Oxford in the summer of 2022.

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What our clients say about us

“I think Mills & Reeve are a wonderful firm. The support they have provided to us in a really difficult area has been brilliant, collaborative and commercially minded. The team were absolutely wonderful and a joy to work with. Amazing advice and support and a real collaborative effort with us. I can't thank them enough for getting us through some really tough times and doing so with an amazing can-do attitude.”

“They are friendly, fast, always available and always on top of the game. I tend to judge my legal team against the other side's legal team and never doubt Mills & Reeve is the better of the two.”

“All interactions have been very clear. Responses to questions have always been very swift and unambiguous. Our company, and my family, have used various services in Mills & Reeve with the same level of satisfaction.”

“I value the fact that Mills & Reeve are recognised as a good place to work in the UK Best Companies survey. This aligns with the values of our business and means that Mills & Reeve can share what is required to achieve this status with our business.”