Hugh James

The firm: Hugh James is a top 100 UK law firm, employing more than 600 staff from its headquarters in Cardiff and offices in London, Southampton and Plymouth.

Hugh James has been established for more than 60 years and has built its success on offering expert advice through a personal and friendly service to its clients. A highly innovative firm, it creates a competitive advantage through a blend of excellence in client service, bespoke technical systems and the expertise of its people.

The firm handles the full range of services across a variety of industries. Business sectors where the firm has particular expertise including banking and finance, property and construction, technology, media and telecommunications, energy and sustainability, creative industries, leisure and hospitality, agriculture, insurance and health care.

In the public and not for profit sectors, the firm acts for the Welsh Government and is on the legal panels of most of the local authorities in Wales as well as a number in England. It carries out the full range of public sector work for these authorities, including childcare and inquests. The firm is also well known for its work in social housing and acts for a large number of registered social landlords and registered providers.

In addition to its transactional work, the firm has a strong commercial litigation practice that handles disputes across all areas, including commercial disputes, professional negligence, intellectual property, copyright, trademarks and passing off, defamation, landlords and tenant and contentious probate.

Unusually for a firm with a comprehensive commercial offering, Hugh James also has a highly rated private client department which advises on the whole spectrum of personal matters, including matrimonial legal advice, will writing and probate, inheritance disputes, and estate, finance and tax planning. The firm also has its own team of independent financial advisors.

Another area in which the firm excels is claimant litigation. It has nationally renowned practices in clinical negligence, catastrophic and general injury claims, as well as expertise in running large group actions for industrial disease, product liability and environmental claims.