Occupation
- Barrister (Call 1993)
- Direct Access Certified
Specialisations
- Resolving integrity situations and problems globally
- International integrity investigations
- Review, design and implementation of Integrity Compliance Programs
- Multi-jurisdictional investigations
- Asset identification, tracing and recovery
- Protecting and supporting victims of serious crime
Summary
James, who returned to private practice in 2020 after 21 years running his own consultancy company, has decades of experience gained in unravelling the complicated and challenging situations in which his clients found themselves. It is his unique skillset that enabled him to co-found, and has made him such a valued member of, Pavocat Chambers.
Since 1999, James has successfully run his own consultancy, Johnstone & Partners. His consultancy specialises in handling extremely demanding problems and interesting projects for governments, large companies, family offices and leading individuals around the world. During the process of establishing himself as an experienced and trusted advisor to his clients, James developed an extensive global contact base of professionals and service providers at the highest level and in almost every field. This network has enabled him, when necessary, to identify, recruit and manage teams to handle almost any problem or request his clients bring him and to deliver their dream (e.g., collections, property, events, education, etc) or resolve their nightmare (e.g., blackmail, fraud, investigations, reputation damage, etc).
Within a decade, James had gained a hard-earned reputation for resolving problems that others could not. His clients appreciated James’s ability to ‘think outside the box’ and to come up with innovative solutions to seemingly impossible requests. Some of the requests might require years of work, but others – such as blackmails – would need to be resolved with the utmost urgency.
After initially assessing his clients’ requests on a case-by-case basis, James either handles the issue in-house or he recruits and assembles a team of leading specialists to help and advise him on the work performed for his clients – such as lawyers, investigators, reputations managers and other subject matter experts. While most projects only require a handful of experts, others have at times had teams of hundreds of people working on them. Ultra-high-value sensitive projects requiring legal work – for which James carefully identified and then recruited leading lawyers and specialists in the UK, USA, EU and elsewhere, and then managed them – included: resolving blackmails; undertaking global fraud investigations; identifying, tracing and recovering assets; providing litigation support as directed by the legal team; mitigating damage to private and corporate reputations; gathering evidence; investigating contractual disputes; redressing human rights violations; advising and supporting clients who were victims variously of sexual abuse, rape (including a horrific case of child rape), and torture; establishing a preliminary legal investigation into alleged war crimes; and advising on UHNW divorces and providing support to his clients (invariably the weaker party).
As an Unregistered Barrister (i.e., non-practising) until 2020, James did not provide legal advice, but he ensured two things: first, that his clients were receiving – and understood – the best advice possible from leading lawyers; and, secondly, that those lawyers were provided by James and his teams with all the litigation support services they needed.
James regularly gives talks and lectures on the trouble-shooting work he has done and how he does it. As well as presentations given to his clients’ companies and to professional institutions in the UK and abroad, he has been the keynote speaker at the two-day Family Office Seminar held by the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA).
Memberships & Associations
- Lincoln’s Inn
- The South Eastern Circuit
Background
James’s father was a diplomat in the British Foreign Office, which is why James was born in Syria (1964) and was brought up in Pakistan (1966-68), Cambodia (1969-71), and Ireland (1971-73) before the family finally returned to live in England. Quitting art college early in 1984, he became a project manager for 5 years before returning to university.
James graduated with a First in Law & English from Oxford Brookes university and was named its ‘Law Student of the Year’ by Linnells. He was awarded a Hardwicke Scholarship by Lincoln’s Inn and was called to the Bar in 1993. While still only in his ‘second-six’ pupillage, James successfully argued and won all five grounds of an appeal against conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal, for a client of his who had been convicted and sentenced in the Crown Court to lengthy imprisonment. This case so early in his career, the achievement of his client’s freedom, and the events that took place during and after the appeal, had a profound impact upon James and helped to shape the subsequent direction of his life. He first committed himself to helping people and to rectifying injustices, and in recent years during his time at Chambers he has also used all his efforts in helping to resolve internationally the harmful consequences of systemic corruption.
James speaks fluent French and good Spanish.
Further client testimonials
“What I like about James’s approach is that he can always be trusted to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas. On one project which was the culmination of two year’s sensitive work by him for me in UK and abroad he came up with a solution that was the precise opposite of what I had expected. But I went with his proposal and I’m glad I did because he successfully created a substantial and unanticipated fortune for me and my family.”
“James worked non-stop for over a year with his investigators on a complex financial investigation across numerous opaque jurisdictions globally, helping to uncover extensive high-value assets that had been deliberately hidden from us by the other party. His work enabled us to achieve a far better and fairer settlement than had seemed possible to us at the outset.”
“What I especially appreciate about working with James is that when I most needed his assistance, at a very delicate time in my life, he dropped everything to be there for me and did his utmost in a very difficult situation. You could say he literally saved my life. For that, I will forever be grateful.”
“I have worked with James on several sensitive and confidential projects and every time he has delivered. He always keeps his word (an increasingly rare commodity), maintains confidentiality under every circumstance and is a pleasure to work with.”
“It is always an absolute pleasure to work with James on projects. He has a vivid imagination, great style and military precision, brings clarity to every point and works tirelessly until each job is completed to perfection.”
