James Maguire

Practice Areas

• Divorce and financial remedy proceedings

• High net worth and complex financial disputes

• Cases involving businesses, trusts and inherited wealth

• International divorce and jurisdiction disputes

• Child abduction and relocation

• Private children law matters

He regularly works with leading barristers, forensic accountants, tax advisers, pension actuaries and international lawyers to advise on complex financial cases and cross-border family disputes.

International Practice

James has a significant international practice and regularly advises clients with connections to multiple jurisdictions.

He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a worldwide association of leading family lawyers. His work frequently involves coordinating strategies with lawyers in other jurisdictions in divorce and child abduction matters.

He has also passed the California Bar Exam and regularly advises on cases involving the United States and other international jurisdictions.

Career

James qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1995 and founded Maguire Family Law, which has grown into a well-established specialist family law practice in the North West.

He leads a team advising clients across the region on complex matrimonial finance disputes, private children matters and international family law cases.

Under his leadership the firm has developed a reputation for advising on high value and international family law matters.

Professional Memberships

• Solicitor (England & Wales), qualified 1995

• California Bar Exam, 2008

• Fellow, International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers

• Law Society Child Abduction Panel

• Foreign & Commonwealth Office panel

• Adviser to foreign embassy panels including the US Embassy and Canadian High Commission

• Adviser to British Consulates overseas

• Member, Reunite International Child Abduction Centre

• Former member, International Committee of Resolution

• Manchester Law Society International Committee 2025/26

Publications

• International Contact Arrangements: Maximum Security Measures, Family Law Journal (2005)

• Til Death Us Do Part: Inheritance Claims and the Short Marriage, Family Law (2006)

• International Relocation of Children: American and English Approaches, International Family Law (2006)

• Brussels II Revised: Recent Developments, Family Law (2007)

Personal

James Maguire is the Managing Director of Maguire Family Law, a specialist family law firm with offices across the North West of England. With more than 30 years’ experience, he advises clients on complex divorce and financial remedy proceedings, particularly those involving high net worth individuals, business assets, trusts and international elements. His cases include values up to £1.2 billion.

He regularly acts for entrepreneurs, professionals and internationally mobile families in cases involving complex asset structures, overseas property and jurisdiction disputes. He also has significant experience in international child abduction and relocation cases.

Clients value his strategic advice, clear judgment and his ability to guide them through sensitive disputes with discretion and practical focus.

Reputation

James is recognised for advising on complex matrimonial finance disputes and international family law matters, particularly those involving cross-border assets and jurisdictional issues. He is frequently instructed by high net worth individuals, business owners, professionals, sporting professionals and celebrities and is known for his strategic and pragmatic approach to resolving complex disputes.

Peers and clients note his ability to combine technical expertise with practical and commercially minded advice when navigating complex family law disputes.

Charity and Community

James supports charitable initiatives addressing social isolation and domestic abuse. Through fundraising events he has helped raise more than £40,000 for Fréa, a partnership between established Irish charities in the North of England supporting individuals experiencing loneliness, homelessness and families fleeing domestic abuse.

Work Highlights

James has acted in a number of reported cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Most recently he acted successfully for the husband in D v D [2024] EWFC 76, a High Court financial remedy case involving assets of approximately £15–16 million. The case addressed issues including capitalised maintenance, litigation costs as a financial need and the treatment of ill-health within financial remedy proceedings.

He has also appeared in leading international child abduction litigation including Zaffino v Zaffino [2005] EWCA Civ 1012, a Court of Appeal decision concerning the Hague Convention. The case was subsequently considered by the House of Lords in Re M (Abduction: Child’s Objections) [2007].

Industry Sector Expertise

Media and Commentary

James regularly provides commentary on family law issues for national and international media.

He has appeared on BBC News, BBC North West Tonight, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Manchester and LBC Radio, and has been quoted in publications including The Times, The Express and the New York Post.

In 2024 he commissioned a national survey into coercive control in relationships, examining the barriers preventing victims from seeking help. The research was featured across BBC television and radio in 2025.