A highly experienced lawyer with over 25 years of experience advising clients on corporate matters, James Stephen supports businesses in the UK and internationally on corporate legal matters, including mergers and acquisitions, company sales, corporate restructurings, fundraisings and general corporate issues.
James started his career working for large City of London firms (Mayer Brown, Baker & McKenzie) before relocating to Cambridge in 2007 where he helped to establish the Cambridge office of Charles Russell, before moving to Penningtons Manches and then most recently to BDB Pitmans.
James acts for clients of all sizes including private and public limited companies, LLPs, partnerships and entrepreneurs.
Howes Percival’s Corporate, Commercial, and Banking team has grown by 60% since 2020 and 2022 was the team’s busiest year to-date, completing over 100 transactions, with an aggregate deal value of over £500 million.
Oliver Pritchard, a Partner in Howes Percival’s Corporate, Commercial and Banking team in the East, commented,
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome James into the team. He is a very well established and highly regarded corporate lawyer within the Cambridge market and brings a wealth of experience.
“We are certainly on a roll in the East and building real momentum both here and nationally, following a significant investment in growing the team. We want to be the corporate, commercial and banking team of choice in the region, and James will be playing a key role as we continue to make progress towards that aim.
“James joins us at an exceptionally busy time, and his local market knowledge and extensive experience will provide additional momentum as we continue with our ambitious plans to further grow our team and increase our market share in Cambridge.”
Howes Percival’s East of England Corporate team has advised on a series of eye-catching deals recently, including farm machinery dealer Ben Burgess on the acquisition of fellow John Deere dealership the Doubleday Group, Master's Logistical Services Limited of Ely on the sale to Knowles (Transport) Limited and Touchdown PR Limited on the sale of the company to US headquartered Ruder Finn, one of the world’s largest independent global communications agencies.
Howes Percival was recently confirmed as one of the ‘Best Companies to Work For’, for the third year running. The 2022 list saw the firm rise 13 places to 59th position in the UK’s 100 Best Large Companies to Work For category and 8th in the Top 10 Best Large Law Firms to Work For list. The firm achieved a 2 star Best Companies accreditation, which is given to organisations with an ‘outstanding’ commitment to workplace engagement.
For more information on Howes Percival’s Corporate services please click here.
