James, who joined ABNR in 2018, has worked for some 20 years in Indonesia, is fluent in the Indonesian language, and has a deep understanding of Indonesian culture. With his acquisition of Indonesian citizenship in 2019 and earlier graduation with a sarjana hukum law degree in 2018, he is the only foreign-born, native English-speaking lawyer licensed to practice Indonesian law and directly advise Indonesian and overseas clients across all practice areas. He previously studied law at the National University of Ireland and the King’s Inns (barrister school) in Dublin, Ireland.
James’ focus practice areas are General Corporate, M&A, FDI, and Manpower.
In General Corporate, he advises high-end domestic and multinational corporations on all aspects of corporate law, such as corporate establishment and maintenance, legal documentation, regulatory filings, governance & compliance, negotiating, drafting and reviewing contracts and other agreements, and day-to-day legal issues as they arise.
In M&A, he assists corporations, private equity firms, venture capitalists, strategic investors and vulture funds with all aspects of their M&A deals, including advising on compliance, due diligence, structuring, document preparation, and execution (including liaising with government agencies, notaries, and tax and financial advisors).
In FDI, he advises on the FDI restrictions set out in Indonesia’s Negative List; the legal requirements for the establishment of an FDI company; documentation; the use of Indonesia’s online system for corporate licensing and approvals (the OSS); accessing special facilities and incentives; special economic zones; regulatory and compliance issues; and all other aspects of doing business as a foreign investor in Indonesia.
In the Manpower arena, he assists clients across the entire spectrum of manpower and immigration law, including as regards employment contracts, the complex rules governing the employment of expatriates in Indonesia, the use of agency/contract labor, termination policies, strategies and their execution, employee benefits and entitlements, and regulatory & compliance issues.
James is also an accomplished translator and is most likely the only native English-speaking lawyer in Indonesia to hold a legal translator’s diploma from the University of Indonesia. His portfolio includes the translation of judgments and reports for both the Indonesian Supreme Court and Constitutional Court; books and speeches by two former Indonesian presidents (B.J. Habibie and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono); and biographies and business texts by a number of prominent Indonesian tycoons.