Vanda James has more than 30 years’ experience as a family lawyer and has a particular interest in complex financial cases, including asset-protection work involving significant corporate, trust and offshore assets in the UK and worldwide. She is known for her forensic approach to financial analysis when cases demand close scrutiny and clients describe her as formidable, tenacious and unwaveringly focused on achieving the right outcome. Ranked in Tier 1 by The Legal 500 and Chambers UK for the past 19 years, Vanda has been an active collaborative lawyer since 2006. Having completed the Resolution Together training, she now also offers a one-couple, one-lawyer service for suitable clients. Alongside her specialist practice, Vanda is head of Birketts LLP’s South-East office, in which she nurtures team growth and champions a culture of excellence across the region.
What was your career path to your current role?
My career path into the law wasn’t the traditional one. Law was always in my DNA and as my mother was a lawyer, I spent a lot of my school holidays in her office. That early exposure sparked my interest in pursuing a legal career and, while working full-time in a solicitors’ practice, I trained as a legal executive, studying in the evenings and at weekends while raising a young child. It was demanding, but it built my resilience and gave me a grounded, practical understanding of the profession.
In the 1990s, progression to partnership was not possible as a legal executive so I went on to qualify as a solicitor. A few months later, I became the first female partner in my then firm’s 219‑year history – a milestone I remain incredibly proud of. Since then, alongside my family practice, I have held senior management roles at other law firms.
Did you have any other career ambitions?
Yes – for a time, I wanted to be a police officer and went to my local police station to enquire, only to be told there was a minimum height requirement and I needed to grow a bit taller. I never did and the rest, as they say, is history.
What keeps you motivated in your work?
This type of work can be difficult at times, but what keeps me motivated is helping clients through some of the most challenging periods of their lives and supporting them as they rebuild. Playing a part in guiding someone from uncertainty to stability and, ultimately, to a new and happier chapter of their life is both meaningful and rewarding.
What has been the best development in family law in the last 20 years?
There have been two, in my opinion – the introduction of no‑fault divorce ending years of clients having to cite unpleasant reasons for the breakdown of the marriage, and the change in legislation around protecting individuals from domestic abuse and the recognition of coercive and controlling behaviour. This has changed how we support clients, how courts approach risk, and ensures safeguarding is prioritised.
And the worst?
The changes to child maintenance introduced by the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008. By linking the level of child maintenance to the number of overnight stays, the system has unintentionally created an incentive for some parents to focus on reducing or increasing nights rather than on what arrangements genuinely serve the child’s best interests. Too often, it becomes a point of conflict rather than a tool that supports children’s right to maintain strong, meaningful relationships with both parents.
If you could bring in one new piece of legislation for the sector, what would it be and why?
It would be to create clear and coherent financial rights for cohabiting couples. Successive governments have acknowledged the need for reform, but it has repeatedly fallen down the agenda. As a result, many people still assume that ‘common‑law husband or wife’ exists and are left vulnerable when relationships break down. Providing proper legal clarity would offer fairness, reduce conflict and give cohabitees the protection they have been waiting for and need.
What piece of legislation would you take off the statute books and why?
The framework that moved child maintenance away from being dealt with as part of the overall financial arrangements and placed it into the hands of successive government‑run schemes. Each new system has attempted to ‘fix’ the last, often at significant cost to the taxpayer and, in my view, none has managed to reflect the individual circumstances of families as well as the court‑based approach once did.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you regarding your career?
The best advice was simply to be the best you can and that hard work, passion and determination will take you further than anything else.
What’s the best piece of advice you’d like to give to someone just starting out?
I would say that being a good lawyer isn’t just about academics. Your people skills will take you just as far, if not further. Being able to talk to clients, build relationships and connect with people at every level is what I believe shapes a long and successful career.
Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you…
I can play the violin, piano and steel drums – just not at the same time.
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