James leads our tax advisory practice, FB Consulting, providing award-winning R&D tax relief expertise to businesses and accountants. This can include modelling and forecasting, risk profiling and benchmarking, and advice on compliance and methodology for large corporates.
With a legal background and extensive experience dealing with HMRC, James brings incisive insights to tax disputes, developing strategies to achieve the best possible outcome for clients. For example, he successfully led ForrestBrown’s support for Quinn (London) Limited in a 2021 landmark tribunal case challenging the interpretation of subsidised R&D expenditure.
James and the FB Consulting team provide specialist advice, working alongside a company’s general advisers, including due diligence relating to R&D tax relief pre and post transactions and R&D in complex, international groups.
A solicitor who specialises in tax advice for corporates and individuals, with a focus on cross-border and international issues, James trained and qualified at a top London law firm before relocating to Geneva to help set up the firm’s Swiss office. On returning to the UK James worked in the tax team of a leading Bristol and London-based law firm, before joining ForrestBrown in 2019.
James has contributed commentary on R&D tax relief and tax disputes to publications including Bloomberg Law and International Tax Review.
