James Winterbottom

Senior Solicitor | LLB (Hons), PGdip
Date of admission: 2010

Clinical Negligence
High Value Personal Injury
Commercial Dispute Resolution
Civil Litigation

Bio:

James grew up in Rossendale, attending Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. He graduated from university with First Class Honours in law and was awarded the Langleys Prize for Distinguished Performance in Final Level Law for placing top in his year group.

James then went on to study at the College of Law, York, graduating with Distinction. After a number of years with a leading Manchester practice James joined Aston Knight Solicitors in 2014.

James has an excellent reputation in the industry, particularly for succeeding in difficult and disputed cases rejected or abandoned by other law firms. He regularly handles cases in excess of £1m but is equally happy dealing with smaller cases as well. James prides himself on his client care standards. He is a published author in the prestigious Solicitors Journal, as well as a keen blogger for the Aston Knight website.

James also has experience of working as a professional trustee for a brain injured client which provides a unique insight into the lives and challenges of brain-injured clients beyond settlement.

Recent Notable Cases

Personal Injury

£5.7m settlement for serious injury victim rejected by two national law firms

21st Sep
£350,000 for an injured Lithuanian factory worker

9th Jun
£240,000 for a partial finger amputation

9th Jun
£120,000 for a knee injury at work

9th Jun
£1.5 million for road traffic accident victim with brain injury

18th Aug
£200,000 for carbon monoxide injuries

18th Aug

Medical Negligence

Commercial

A Word:

From the start of my career, I had my heart set on litigation. To me, being a litigator, fighting and winning cases, is what law is all about. Following my training in the South West, I took up a role with a Manchester firm. Whilst there were lots of positives, I felt the approach was too much towards “high volume, low quality” – I wanted somewhere where we were striving to be the best in the industry, and where I had a chance of being recognised amongst the best in the profession. In 2014 I joined Aston Knight Solicitors, a relatively new firm. Ayoub, who had started the firm, shared my viewpoint as to what as important i.e. quality above everything else, so it felt like what I’d been looking for ever since I qualified.

During my time here I feel like I have developed into a far better solicitor than I could ever have imagined being before. The chance to work with leading barristers, the best expert witnesses and high value cases (some of which have been reported in national newspapers) has been a fantastic experience and I hope I can be part of growing it even further.

Greatest Moment:

Winning a case at trial, without a barrister, for a young lady. It was a tough case – there were two potential defendants and both adopted an extremely difficult stance. I was convinced the case could be won with the right tactics and decided to take it to trial. A week before the trial it felt like everything was going wrong – one defendant started introducing new evidence/points to weaken the case and the barrister pulled out as he didn’t think the case could be won. Solicitors ordinarily never undertake a trial themselves, but the client could not afford a barrister privately so it was a choice of leaving her to suffer an injustice or to do the trial myself. At her request I took conduct of the trial and went up against a very experienced barrister on the other side. Waiting for judgment at the end of the day, my heart was pounding and when the judge confirmed we had won the feeling was like nothing I can describe. Driving back home that evening, replaying such a challenge in my mind, it felt like it was what life was all about.

Client Feedback:

To say James is popular with clients is somewhat of an understatement. Take a look at our testimonial page for the full list but we’ve added some examples below.

James Winterbottom