James Yates

James is an equity Partner at Martin Cray & Co – having entered into a partnership with Martin Cray on the 1st October 2024. 

This partnership followed a long association with the firm where he worked for over 14 years both before and after qualifying as a solicitor. 

James’ specialisms range from criminal litigation (from representation at the police interview, all the way to trial), to civil litigation and family law – throughout all of his work he always strives to ensure the best representation and support for his clients. 

James is our in-house advocate and regularly appears on behalf of our clients at both the Magistrates Court and Crown Courts all over the country. 

He has developed into a successful trial advocate, with successes in a range of different offences ranging from minor road traffic offences to serious sexual offences.

His advocacy has been described by senior Kings Counsel as:

“A most impressive style which has produced a number of excellent results for his clients… He is calm and cool in Court, acting in highly pressurised situations and I have witnessed firsthand his demonstration of a clear and concise thought process”

One of James’ specialisms is motoring offences where he well known for his detailed and passionate advocacy on behalf of his clients. 

He regularly advocates on guilty and not-guilty motoring offences with significant success including cases where he has successfully advocated for the Court to decide not to disqualify his clients from driving through successful “exceptional hardship” arguments.

James also has significant experience with representing clients in guilty and not guilty cases in Sexual, Fraud and Violence based offences.

In trials he is known for his skilful and detailed cross examination of witnesses and in the event that he is required to mitigate a guilty plea – he has successfully convinced the Court depart from their sentencing guidelines to better reflect the totality of a situation, resulting in significantly lower sentences than could otherwise be received. 

James has repeatedly also secured not guilty verdicts for clients before juries due to his exceptional representation and trial preparation. 

James also frequently attends police station interviews for both existing clients and new clients who have sought representation out of hours.

These interviews have been for a vast variety of offences, and he has an excellent track record of providing clear and detailed advice to his clients, with a number of excellent outcomes for his clients – with several cases being no further actioned shortly after these interviews due to his representation.

James also works closely with senior barristers, including Kings Counsel, both in his role as an instructing solicitor and junior Counsel. 

He has been described by one senior Kings Counsel barrister as:

“His written work and drafting of pleadings is to a standard of the utmost excellence.

I can also attest to his thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the law which I have had considerable experience of, which he has seamlessly and expertly demonstrated. 

In one case at court I observed James quite masterfully drawing a balance, by applying the law accurately between matters that simply impugned the credibility of the witness and matters that could properly be put in cross-examination.”

James also represents clients in family proceedings such as non-molestation cases both applying for and defending, with their desired outcomes.

James first came to the firm on work experience in 2010 and returned to intern at the firm for every summer during his studies.

Once he completed his studies he then returned to work at the firm full time as a Trainee Solicitor and completed his Training Contract in June 2018.

James was kept on by the firm as a Solicitor and practices primarily alongside Martin Cray in the firm’s contentious litigation departments.

James has since been awarded his higher rights of audience in criminal proceedings and is therefore able to appear before the Crown Court and Court of Appeal in Criminal law matters.

Since qualification – James has appeared regularly before the Magistrates court, County Court and Crown Court in a variety of matters.

James graduated his Undergraduate law degree from the University of Sussex in 2014 with honours.

He then received a Chancellor’s Scholarship to study for a Master’s degree in International Criminal Law, also at the University of Sussex. James graduated his Master’s degree in 2016 and has since completed the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law.

James was a finalist in the University of Sussex criminal advocacy competition and volunteered at the Royal Courts of Justice Support Unit.

James is also a graduate mentor of the University of Sussex’s senior Criminal Advocacy team.

Outside of work James enjoys cooking, sailing and playing cricket.