After qualifying in 2005 John has dealt with over 2000 cases relating to personal guarantees, bankruptcies, winding ups, shareholder disputes, mis-selling of financial products, construction, land disputes, landlord and tenant residential, landlord and tenant commercial, debt recovery and breach of contract claims.
From 2002 to 2012 John trained and worked at mid-size Leeds commercial law firms and worked as a consultant for a high street firm for a year thereafter.
In 2013 John founded Bailoran Solicitors to offer niche legal services to progressive and growing businesses, providing them with a friendly, no nonsense and commercial approach to resolving their legal issues.
John’s main areas of expertise are Commercial Dispute Resolution and Insolvency and his case load is largely split equally between these two specialisms. His use of commercial and legal factors in complex and niche areas of law helps clients who are often disadvantaged by being the subject of judgments, order, bankruptcies, winding up orders or personal guarantees.
His expertise has resulted in regularly working for both national and international clients.

Some examples of the matters John has dealt with include:

• Dealing with a group of investors challenging Special Administrators to recover their substantial assets back as promptly as possible.
• Dealing with a vulnerable client who had 11 years of problems with her management company regarding management fees.
• Dealing with a large case against a stately home for breach of contract for over £1m.
• Settling innumerable cases where banks have threatened to sell individuals properties pursuant to personal guarantees and legal charges.
• Acted for directors of companies defending proceedings against them personally for debts claimed as due from the company.
• Defending Director Disqualification proceedings against the Secretary of State.
• Applications to Court to seek permission for directors to use prohibited company names following insolvency.
• Misrepresentation and breach of contract claims.
• Bringing and defending claims where goods provided are alleged as not fit for purpose.
• Annulled bankruptcies.
• Defended winding up petitions.
• Resolving shareholder and partnership disputes.
• Holding mediations and without prejudice meetings.
• Chasing large scale and complex debt recovery matters.
• Construction disputes and party wall disputes.
• Judicial reviews of local government decisions.

James has vast experience in the field of civil and commercial litigation and coupled with an ability to think pragmatically about legal problems means he can quickly get to the heart of the legal matter for his clients.

At the start of his career James trained and worked at well-known Leeds based regional firms before moving to the international firm DWF LLP in 2011 where he dealt with complex litigation services and after multiple promotions was appointed a Director.

In 2013 he became the High Court Enforcement Officers Associations’ independent Solicitor for their Complaints Board; a Board regulated by the Lord Chancellor under the guidance of an appointed Master within the Royal Courts of Justice.

In 2016 he became a committee member of the Law Society’s National Civil Litigation Committee and in October 2019, after two years serving as Vice-Chair, he became Chair of the Committee responsible for guiding litigators in the profession with updates on legal developments and training.

James has also been named a Leading Lawyer in the Legal 500’s legal directory for a number of years, the directory recommending him as a “commercially astute” lawyer dealing with “complex litigation”.

In his spare time James enjoys looking after and spending quality time with his family, helping his children develop their love of football and music.

Ellie is a Senior Solicitor specialising in Commercial Contracts and Intellectual Property (‘IP’) law.

She regularly advises on a variety of commercial contract matters, such as drafting and negotiating terms and conditions (T&Cs) of sale/purchase, supply agreements, business services agreements, distribution agreements and agency agreements.

Ellie also advises on contracts relating to websites, digital media and IT, including website development and agile agreements, software licences and website documentation such as T&Cs for online sales and privacy policies.

Ellie has a wealth of experience advising on all types of Intellectual Property, including Trade Marks, Designs, Copyright, Patents and Trade Secrets, and regularly advises clients in respect of licensing and assigning such rights.

In addition, Ellie advises on contracts relating to Life Sciences, including Material Transfer Agreements, R&D Agreements, Collaboration Agreements and Confidentiality agreements (also known as Non-Disclosure Agreements or NDAs).

Since qualifying as a solicitor in 2007, Ellie has worked as a Commercial Contracts and IP solicitor for law firms in both Leeds and London. She has acted for a wide range of clients, from start-ups to AIM listed companies.

She also has experience working within the Commercialisation Department of a university, working with academics and spin out companies, looking to commercialise their IP.  In addition, Ellie drafted contracts to allow the university to collaborate with private companies and other universities.

Outside of work, Ellie enjoys spending time with her family, learning new hobbies, volunteering at the Leeds Baby Bank and socialising with her friends.

Cat is a Senior Solicitor specialising in Commercial Litigation and Contentious Insolvency.

Having qualified with Higher Rights of Audience in February 2018, Cat has substantial experience in commercial dispute resolution. She has managed complex cases at all stages of the litigation process in County Court, High Court and the Court of Appeal as well as advising on disputes involving general contract law, debt, misrepresentation, professional negligence and fraud. Cat has acted on behalf of a wide range of clients across diverse sectors.

Cat also spent a number of years working at a Legal 500 listed law firm in the Insolvency team dealing with contentious insolvency matters acting for both insolvency Practitioners and directors of SMEs.

As well as technical experience, Cat brings a pragmatic, commercial and outcome-focused approach to her work which is in keeping with Bailoran’s client-centric ethos.

Andrew has over 18 years experience of debt recovery within law firms and in that time he has dealt with over 100,000 Fleet Management Claims for road traffic accidents and 10,000 cases of Business to Business Debt Recovery.

Andrew’s specialisms include advising Small to Medium Enterprises on effective Credit Control and dealing with Pre-legal collections and County Court claims.

Keith joined Bailoran Solicitors in 2017 as our Practice Manager following a management career at Asda Head Office.

He helps run the compliance, people, operations, and business side of the practice so that the solicitors can focus on delivering great levels of client care.

In his spare time Keith enjoys attending gigs, going to festivals and playing sports.

Mia joined the team in June 2025, having completed her law degree at Leeds Beckett University. Mia is studying for the SQE.

In her spare time, Mia enjoys walking her dogs, baking and going to the gym.

Sophie first joined the firm in 2023 to complete a year-long student placement from Leeds Beckett University as part of her law degree.