James Pereira Q.C. specialises in planning, environmental, local government and administrative law, compulsory purchase and compensation. He enjoys both contentious and non-contentious work, loves advocacy of any kind, and finds a great deal of pleasure working with others to realise his clients’ ambitions.
James is consistently ranked among the top silks in his field. He was nominated as Real Estate, Environment and Planning Silk of the Year by the Legal 500 Bar Awards for 2016, 2017 and 2019, and ranked in the top 10 planning silks in the 2019 Planning Magazine review of the UK planning bar. Before taking silk he was the number one in Planning Magazine's survey of the Junior Planning Bar for three consecutive years (2012, 2013 and 2014), and twice named 'Junior Barrister of the Year' in Planning and Environmental Law by Chambers and Partners Directory of the UK Legal Profession.
James is the co-author of leading text books in compulsory purchase, compensation, infrastructure planning and environmental law. He is a Visiting Professor of Law at King’s College, London where he teaches European environmental law to masters’ students.
James is dedicated to optimising professional performance. He is a trained organisational, relationship and systems coach (International Coaching Federation accredited training) and NLP Master Practitioner. In 2018 he founded a niche coaching practice for lawyers, law firms and other professionals (www.thelibrapartnership.com), to provide individual and organisational coaching and skills training services. For nearly half a decade he has co-written a regular column in The Lawyer entitled "Loving Legal Life", giving advice on leadership, professional performance and workplace well-being. He has written on the same topics in the Bar's own journal, Counsel Magazine. He is in demand as a speaker on these topics. He tweets as @JamesPereiraQC.
James understands that the decision to instruct Leading Counsel is an important one. He is always willing to meet potential clients to discuss how best he can meet their needs, prior to a decision to instruct him.