Consultant Legal Counsel
James Downey – Head of Corporate
James is a corporate lawyer specialising in fundraising and investment work (from seed financing to Series A and Series B), business sales and acquisitions, joint ventures and group reorganisations, shareholders agreements and disputes as well as general corporate and commercial work.
James is great at explaining the different types of deal available and helping businesses work out what’s best for them. He’ll explain upfront what the deal process will be like, what to expect and when, and how much it’ll cost. He’s hands on and works efficiently to negotiate the best possible deal and close them quickly so companies can focus on growth.
Useful to know:
James was a Tornado Navigator and Staff Officer in the RAF for nearly 10 years. He is also founder of a successful ski travel company, so has direct experience of what setting up and growing a business entails.
Worked with:
James has worked for international law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner) and in-house at GE Capital. At LegalEdge he has worked with brands such as Cognism, Asolvi, Curators of Flavour, Unrooted Drinks, Days Brewing and The Savourist.What James' clients say:
Having a practical legal expert like James on board has been a breath of fresh air when it comes to our legal support. On our recent investment work, James’ help in reviewing the investment documentation and coming up with sensible and commercially focused legal advice was invaluable. His impressive knowledge and support in getting the right legal documentation in place for our investment (and for the target company) has made the whole process pain-free for everybody involved. I highly recommend working with James.
James was super effective in handling our Seed round and genuinely great to work with. Highly commercial, he was always focussed on what really mattered in the deal and looked to solutions, rather than problems! Most importantly, having James in our corner made an intense process less stressful.
James has the patience of a saint. His calm and professional nature is invaluable and his precise knowledge around commercial law has helped all of my businesses to no end. When we needed detailed explanations, he provided them where it was his expertise, and when something was outside of his commercial remit, he brought his expert colleagues from Legal Edge in to provide the right advice for us to find a way forward, yet continued to manage the communication around what were quite complex at times. It's been a tough year for School of Wok and we would not have gotten through it without James and the team's support. A big thanks to Legal edge for having our backs since the start of our business journey!
