Who? James Taylor, 32-year-old associate and litigation specialist at Bristol and London firm Bevans.

Why is he in the news? Represented Wiltshire couple Edward and Pauline Seymour, who were awarded more than £500,000 in damages from their independent financial adviser (IFA), Caroline Ockwell, and Zurich IFA after they lost their savings following the collapse of the Imperial Consolidated Alpha + Fixed Income Fund. On the advice of Ms Ockwell, a family friend, Mr and Mrs Seymour invested £500,000 in the fund, which went into administrative receivership in 2002 owing £200 million to investors. The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the collapse. Ms Ockwell had sought her own advice from a representative of Zurich IFA, who suggested the fund. The Seymours sued her and she, in turn, sued Zurich IFA. The High Court ordered Ms Ockwell to compensate the Seymours in full, but also ruled that Zurich should provide Ms Ockwell with two-thirds of the £500,000 plus lost income and legal costs, due to its contributory negligence in the advice given to, and withheld from, her.


Background: Studied European law and languages, followed by the LPC, at the University of the West of England, Bristol. After training with a niche litigation firm in Bristol, he qualified in 1997 and practised with Gloucester firm Blakemores before joining Bevans in 2001. He was made an associate with the firm in 2002.


Route to the case: 'Mr and Mrs Seymour were referred to us last year by another firm of solicitors following a conflict of interest.'


Thoughts on the case: 'This is a very interesting case. While the IFA did get things wrong, she was relying on information that was inaccurate. The case has removed the defence used by financial service providers that they cannot be held liable where investors have lost money following a recommendation from an IFA because [the providers] do not provide financial advice. Over £200 million was invested in the fund that collapsed, and there are a large number of other investors in a similar predicament, so my clients hope that the publicity over their case and the judgment will help others to take action and recover their losses.'


Dealing with the media: 'I have had a reasonable amount of contact with the media in relation to other matters that I have dealt with at Bevans. This case was very specialised and because the Imperial Consolidated fiasco is such a long drawn-out affair, it is very easy for the press to lose interest. But there are some journalists who are keeping up to speed with the latest developments.'