James Shaw
Client services contact Liberty Blanchfield
James is a partner in the corporate team and a leading transactional venture capital lawyer, advising entrepreneurs, companies and investors through the funding life-cycle.
James is a partner in the corporate team and a leading transactional venture capital lawyer, advising entrepreneurs, companies and investors through the funding life-cycle.He was the co-founder of tech law firm JAG Shaw Baker which merged with Withers to create a new legal offering, Withers tech, in 2018.
James has two decades of experience helping entrepreneurs, high-growth technology based companies and investors navigate their way through multiple rounds of financing, growth, scale-up and exit/liquidity events. He's ranked as a recommended lawyer for Venture Capital in the 2017 edition of the Legal 500.
James is considered to be one of the leading University spin-out lawyers for life sciences companies and he actively advises on spin-out activity from several of the leading Universities in the UK and Scotland including Oxford and Cambridge University. James works as a mentor and speaker with the Oxford Foundry, part of Oxford University's incubator initiative for past and present students.
As a close adviser to many companies and investors, James also acts as Outside General Counsel to a number of innovative science-based companies and is an adviser to Parkinson's UK Biotech Business Group.
And through the combination of innovation and other practice areas, James is helping to drive firm-wide Global initiatives to address the rapidly changing landscape of more traditional sectors such Real Estate, Hospitality, Sports and Fashion and Luxury Brands.
James is a graduate of both St Andrews University (BSc Hons) and Edinburgh University (LLB), and is passionate about innovation and the environment. As a Scottish qualified lawyer, James also holds a committee position on the Society of Scottish Lawyers in London and is a Writer to Her Majesty's Signet.
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Me in a minute
I'm passionate about helping entrepreneurs and investors build impactful businesses through innovation.
Since Marine Biology is my passion, why did I become a lawyer? The reason is simple; by complete accident! However, it soon became apparent that my scientific passions combined with legal skills in the start-up sector were a powerful combination and I was actually able to make a huge difference.
Whether it's helping life sciences and biotech spinouts become companies that can develop novel therapies or working with startups to help them bring new technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence, to market, I get to help entrepreneurs and investors across multiple sectors make a real difference.