James Herbert

Partner/Head of Department

Specialisms and expertise

  • Private company share and business sales (UK and cross-border)
  • International and domestic joint ventures
  • Private equity/MBO’s/MBI’s
  • Complex commercial contracts
  • Shareholders’ agreements
  • Corporate advisory, share buy backs and restructurings.

Past and present projects

  • Advising Cath Kidston in relation to the sale and institutional buy-out of Cath Kidston Limited.
  • Advising B.P. Direct Mail Company Limited on the partial management buy-out of Orbital Marketing Services Group Limited.
  • Advising a number of schools on their conversion to Academies under the Academies Act 2010.
  • Advising an Industrial & Provident Society in connection with its change of name, adoption of new rules and members' marketing contracts.

Types of client

James is accustomed to advising directors of listed and unquoted companies. He typically acts for corporates, high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs but also has extensive experience acting for private equity houses and banks. He acts for clients involved in the education, retail, food, manufacturing & logistics, transport & infrastructure sectors.

Achievements and other appointments

James is recommended in leading independent guide to UK law firms, The Legal 500, where he is credited with "very good business acumen". James has written articles for a variety of national, local and on-line journals, including the Financial Times, Telegraph Online, Accountancy Age, Kent Business, Finance Director and CEO Journal. The articles have been on a variety of subjects, including directors' duties, issues to be considered by directors of companies in financial difficulty and the Companies Act 2006. James is also an experienced public speaker and frequently runs workshops and seminars for clients and other professionals on company law and transactional matters.

Profile

James qualified as a solicitor in 1997. He joined Thomson Snell & Passmore as a partner in October 2006 from Allen & Overy LLP. Prior to joining Allen & Overy he trained and spent two and half years after qualification with Walker Morris. Between December 2001 and the end of 2002, James was seconded to the Corporate Department in Amsterdam. He also spent six months on secondment at BG Group plc during 2005 where he worked in the M&A team.