How can we help?
To access legal support from just £145 per hour arrange your no-obligation initial consultation to discuss your business requirements.
Our founding story
Creating a commercial law firm with a difference
Toby Harper established Harper James in 2014 as the start-up law firm built for start-ups and entrepreneurial businesses. Toby trained and qualified into a boutique corporate law firm and worked in a Top 50 Midlands firm before joining a leading venture capital fund as their in-house counsel. His first-hand experience of the challenges new businesses faced while at the Venture Capital fund led him to think about legal support differently.
Toby knew he could solve those problems by operating like a start-up himself and offering start-ups access to affordable legal advice during their founding journey. The business was set up with a remote operating model, with solicitors focused on supporting businesses with legal advice, enabling Harper James as a virtual firm to pass on savings in rates to its clients. Borrowing the subscription model of paying a fee to access a service from the tech sector – in this case, legal advice – was at the heart of his concept.
Today, Harper James embodies the same entrepreneurial spirit as our founder and our clients. Many of our solicitors join us after leaving top 100 law firms, in-house positions and smaller businesses for the opportunity to support small and medium-sized ambitious businesses in their journey to success.
Now a team of over 100 people, we have supported over 4.400 clients, many of which are technology or technology enabled businesses, and we have consistently achieved 40%+ year on year revenue growth in recent years. We are on track to reach £13m turnover this financial year and £20m by the end of fiscal year 2026.
In 2020, we were the only law firm to make the respected Startups 100 Index and in 2024, we won the Best SME Award at the WM People Top Employer Awards.
Our people
48:52
Male to female ratio
71
Talented lawyers
17
Years average PQE
44%
Average YoY growth for the last 3 years
7
Office Locations
Birmingham, Cambridge, London, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton
13
Practice Areas
48
Business and legal support staff
Discover the personal insights, experiences, and thoughts on the vibrant culture that defines our firm as shared by team members in our ‘life and culture’ video series.
We are committed to being a responsible and sustainable business that delivers positive impact for our employees, clients, profession, environment and the communities we live and work in. Harper James is a people oriented firm with a strong culture and values and we are determined to provide opportunities for everyone to succeed regardless of their race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
View a summary of the Harper James diversity profile 2023.
Testimonials
What our clients say
Harper James provides my small growing business with a scalable, reliable, team-oriented approach to legal advice. Whenever we face a problem, I know that Harper James are there to provide helpful and cost-effective advice, to scope out the options, make clear the costs and risks, and give me the information I need to make decisions.
Bryn Richards
CEO,
Aeristech
As a University spin-out getting the right team of lawyers to support our emerging business was fundamental and the team are always available to provide us with the invaluable guidance and support we require.
David Hodgson
CEO,
Amalyst
Our longstanding relationship has enabled us to get deals over the line quickly and efficiently, with minimum fuss or kickback from opposing lawyers representing the companies we’re investing in. I find the legal team at Harper James efficient, smart and personable. Speed is of the essence for early stage investing and Harper James recognises this and acts accordingly.
Kieran Hill
COO,
Ascension Ventures
The team at Harper James have demonstrated time and again that they have a deep understanding of the issues facing entrepreneurial businesses and their funding.
Charles Smith
Director,
Interpac Limited
They adopted a proactive approach to overcoming issues, and their knowledge of the sector and investors and preparedness to identify novel solutions has proved extremely beneficial.
Charles Smith
Director,
Interpac Limited
Harper James swiftly solves problems with a minimum of fuss. I strongly recommend them and they are a pleasure to work with.
Jean de Fougerolles
CEO,
Ascension Ventures
Harper James provides my small growing business with a scalable, reliable, team-oriented approach to legal advice. Whenever we face a problem, I know that Harper James are there to provide helpful and cost-effective advice, to scope out the options, make clear the costs and risks, and give me the information I need to make decisions.
Bryn Richards
CEO,
Aeristech
As a University spin-out getting the right team of lawyers to support our emerging business was fundamental and the team are always available to provide us with the invaluable guidance and support we require.
David Hodgson
CEO,
Amalyst
Our longstanding relationship has enabled us to get deals over the line quickly and efficiently, with minimum fuss or kickback from opposing lawyers representing the companies we’re investing in. I find the legal team at Harper James efficient, smart and personable. Speed is of the essence for early stage investing and Harper James recognises this and acts accordingly.
Kieran Hill
COO,
Ascension Ventures
The team at Harper James have demonstrated time and again that they have a deep understanding of the issues facing entrepreneurial businesses and their funding.
Charles Smith
Director,
Interpac Limited
They adopted a proactive approach to overcoming issues, and their knowledge of the sector and investors and preparedness to identify novel solutions has proved extremely beneficial.
Charles Smith
Director,
Interpac Limited
Harper James swiftly solves problems with a minimum of fuss. I strongly recommend them and they are a pleasure to work with.
Jean de Fougerolles
CEO,
Ascension Ventures