Julia Norris

PARTNER, MANCHESTER

Practice areas

Julia is recognised as a Leading Individual in both Chambers & Partners the Legal 500 where she is noted as being an ‘excellent litigator’, ‘first class‘ and ‘extremely hard working, very bright and unfazed’.

With over 20 years’ experience, Julia specialises in ‘big ticket’ litigation with a particular expertise in professional negligence claims of all types. Typically instructed on multi million pound matters, Julia’s clients include high profile individuals, sports and media personalities and well known national corporations. She advises on a variety of general litigation matters as well as professional negligence claims. Julia is particularly known for her experience in financial services litigation including investment, pensions and tax negligence claims. She was one of the first in her field to be instructed to advise on high profile and controversial film scheme tax partnerships including Eclipse 35. Julia has been interviewed and quoted in a number of general and specialist publications including the Telegraph, FT Adviser, Citywire, Money Marketing and IFA Online. Julia has also been shortlisted for Partner of the Year in the Law Society’s Manchester Legal Awards.

Client testimonials provided to Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners:

• “Julia Norris is quite simply one of the very best in the business. Her calm professionalism hides a formidable resolve. Julia is the person you want on your side when you face a tough legal challenge. Julia knows how to focus on victory, and disregard all extraneous diversions”
• Julia Norris is a really talented lawyer. She is a pleasure to work with and is always available for her clients. She is very bright and can be judged on her strong results. She’s a super-star and very experienced.
• “Julia Norris came highly recommended. Right from the beginning, she was really good, on the ball, impressive and very responsive”
• “Julia Norris is a highly specialised and competent litigator who achieves excellent results for her clients”
• “Julia Norris is a quite outstanding solicitor who has garnered great experience in this field of practice”
• “Julia Norris is a very bright and dedicated professional negligence expert”
• “Julia is very passionate and forthright in her work and determined to get good results for her clients”
• “She impresses on commercial knowledge, communication and turning the language of law into plain English.”
• “The skill, determination and persistence of Julia Norris and the team at FS Legal combined to achieve a fantastic outcome to my claim. She took the time to guide me through the legal minefield and was always there to deal with questions in a helpful and practical fashion. I would recommend Julia to anyone, especially for high value and complex matters”
• ” I have dealt with a number of lawyers in business and I have to say that Julia Norris is simply outstanding. Julia combined an impressive level of skill and experience with a practical, dogged determination to get me the best result possible — that is exactly what she did. Not only that, she was a delight to deal with and very down to earth”

Contact: julia.norris@fsl.legal

Notable cases

Halsall v Champion Consulting Ltd [2017] EWHC 1079 (QB) Represented the claimants in a £6M claim arising out of tax avoidance schemes. This widely reported case is believed to be one of the first claims of this type to reach the courts.

Anthony Barness and Otrs v Formation Group Pls & Otrs Representing one of the 150 defendants in this multi million pound claim brought by over 260 separate claimants. The claims concern tax avoidance schemes, football agent disputes and allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation.

Fine v Greystone Financial Services Limited (2020) Represented the Claimant in a £4.6M claim against former financial adviser.

Magic Carpet (Commercials) Limited, Jerry Holt, Jackie Holt (2021) v Qubic Tax Limited and Otrs Represented the Claimants in a £2.3M against former accountants and tax promoter.

Advising on a £2.6 claim against well-known solicitors and accountants regarding losses arising from a £20M corporate transaction.

Acting in a £2.3M loss of opportunity negligence claim against a firm of solicitors.

Advising on a £12M+ claim arising from undisclosed commissions against a tax promoter and an accountancy firm together with a related professional negligence loss of opportunity claim against a firm of solicitors for allowing the negligence claims against the other two Defendants to become time barred.

Acting on a £6M+ claim against tax promoter, Qubic Tax Limited, and an accountancy firm for recommending a high-risk tax scheme. Along with an associated claim against the client’s former solicitors for negligently pursuing the latter and allowing negligence claims to expire.

Acting in a negligence claim against solicitors for £5M+ losses arising from a £15M corporate sale.

Representing the claimants in a £9M action arising out of EBT and EFURBs tax mitigations schemes in a claim against their tax advisers and accountants.

Represented a high profile claimant in a £22M claim against his former solicitors, a well known national firm, concerning the acquisition of a substantial shareholding of a UK PLC.

Representing the claimants in a £4M+ claim against a firm of solicitors in a loss of opportunity claim.

Represented 300+ claimants in a £3M+ claim against a firm of solicitors arising out of the promotion and sale of a land banking scheme involving four substantial land sites across the UK.

Advising on a £3M+ claim against and IFA firm arising from a negligent pension transfer.

Career history

• FS Legal – Partner, 2014 to date
• Pannone LLP – Senior Associate, 2006 – 2014
• Wacks Caller – Solicitor, 2004 – 2006

What Julia Norris’s clients say:

The skill, determination and persistence of Julia Norris and the team at FS Legal combined to achieve a fantastic outcome to my claim. She took the time to guide me through the legal minefield and was always there to deal with questions in a helpful and practical fashion. I would recommend Julia to anyone, especially for high value and complex matters

– Vincent Ferguson OBE

I have dealt with a number of lawyers in business and I have to say that Julia Norris is simply outstanding. Julia combined an impressive level of skill and experience with a practical, dogged determination to get me the best result possible – that is exactly what she did. Not only that, she was a delight to deal with and very down to earth

– Guy Gozem KC

When you choose FS Legal you are hiring an entire team of professionals, not just a select group of lead lawyers – this is the FS Legal difference, and the difference is everything. I have no hesitation in recommending the entire FS Legal team.

– Client Testimonial

Julia Norris and Kit Sorrell have developed a real specialisation and considerable expertise in handling high value and complex claims for damages for professional negligence against tax advisers who have mis-sold tax avoidance products. They are proactive, client focussed and very hard working. They are also easy to work with and great at developing a team involving counsel, solicitors and experts. I would thoroughly recommend them for this type of work.

– Andrew Grantham KC, Kings Chambers Chair of the Northern Circuit Commercial Bar Association

We enjoy working with Julia. She has the knack of being proactive and responsive at exactly the right moment according to the needs of the case and of the clients. She is tenacious and very hard-working in her clients’ interests and it is a pleasure to be in the same team as her.

– Mark Anderson KC and Philip Mantle of No5 Chambers

Julia’s kindness, helpfulness and professionalism kept our spirits up, and always seeing light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how petty our queries might have been, by letter, phone or email, we were always dealt with spontaneously, efficiently and never kept waiting.

– Edmund Preston