James was born and raised in East Vancouver. Before graduating from the inaugural law class at Thompson Rivers University, he completed a Bachelor of Business Administration at Simon Fraser University with a focus on Accounting and International Business. While at Simon Fraser University, James worked as an Employment Standards Officer; a role in which he enforced and promoted statutory employment rights for vulnerable, and often immigrant, workers throughout the province in various industries including farm labour. While in law school, he co-founded the South Asian Law Students Association and the Articling and Summer Information Committee. He also served as the Vice President of the Society of Law Students.

James first entered the legal industry as a summer student in 2013 before returning as an articled student in 2014. Following the completion of his articles, he continued to work with a premier downtown insurance defence firm as an associate, before founding Apna Law with Jasroop Grewal. He currently practices general civil litigation with a focus on defamation, injury, family and estate claims. James is also committed to devoting a portion of his practice to helping the under served and disadvantaged by volunteering his time through Access Pro Bono, and occasionally representing Legal Aid clients including representing refugees in their claims for asylum in Canada and economically disadvantage family litigation participants. He has represented clients in both the Provincial Court of British Columbia and the Supreme Court of British Columbia and has appeared before both a judge and jury.

In addition, James is perhaps most passionate about dispute resolution and works as a qualified mediator and dispute resolution specialist. He has successfully mediated a wide variety of cases including injury claims, family law disputes, and general civil litigation claims. His approach as a mediator involves a blend of facilitative, evaluative and transformative styles of mediation, depending on the circumstances. James is a firm believer that to achieve the best results at mediation, its best for parties to get to know their mediator ahead of time to determine fit and start establishing trust in one another early.

To book a mediation with James, please email his assistant, Elizabeth Mayers at emayers@apnalaw.ca, with a cc to James at jgill@apnalaw.ca

*Practicing through a professional law corporation.

Other Interests

Outside of the practice of law, James is a proud food and sports enthusiast. His favourite foods include most forms of chocolate and all things deep-fried. He particularly enjoys attempting to snowboard during the winters, and playing basketball and mountain biking during summers.