Roderick James
Year of Call: 1999 MA (Oxon); Hardwicke Scholar, Lincoln's Inn
Affiliations: Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association, South Eastern Circuit
Specialist Areas: General Crime, Serious Crime, Homicide, Serious Violent Offences, Firearms, Large Drugs Related Offences, Sexual Offences, Confiscation, Restraint & Asset Recovery Proceedings, Serious Fraud & White Collar Crime, MTIC Fraud , Commercial Crime, Money Laundering, DTI Offences, Local Government Crime & Enforcement, Social Security Offences, Regulatory & Compliance Work, Health & Safety, Miscarriages of Justice, Misc., Parole Hearings, Courts Martial
Biography
Roderick is a highly regarded practitioner with extensive experience of acting in all elements of serious criminal work. His main areas of expertise include:
Fraud
Money Laundering
Drugs
Violence
Courts Martial
Sports-related offences
Principally instructed to defend, he is also a Grade 3 rated prosecutor. He also appears regularly before Courts Martial both in the UK and overseas and has considerable experience in regulatory work, acting for the Civil Aviation Authority and the Nursing and Midwifery Council in prosecuting regulatory offences.
Having particular expertise in multi-handed fraud and money laundering trials as well as serious drug-trafficking and violence cases, Roderick conducts cases either alone or as a led junior at all court levels. He has taken cases from first instance through to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and is happy to provide consistency of representation in long, serious cases by advising during the investigation stage and by appearing from the first appearance onwards.
In addition to a busy defence practice, Roderick is a Grade 3 rated advocate for the CPS (London) having frequently prosecuted multi-handed trials. He undertakes all aspects of confiscation matters as well as conducting immigration, deportation and Human Rights appeals.
As a keen sportsman, Roderick also has an interest in sports-related offences. He has defended rugby players against allegations of serious assaults during play and represents players before disciplinary tribunals. Roderick is frequently instructed in regulatory matters with particular experience in the civil aviation and medical jurisdictions.
Roderick was a 2004 Bar Caribbean Pro Bono Unit volunteer to Jamaica where he worked alongside local attorneys in the preparation and presentation of capital murder trials and appeals as well as other Human Rights related cases. He maintains a keen interest in this area and is happy to provide advice or representation pro bono in respect of Caribbean and other cases in the Privy Council.