James Stewart is a Partner and Arbitrator in the Family Department of Penningtons Manches. He was born in Ireland, is admitted as a solicitor in Northern Ireland and chairs the Legal Committee of Ireland's leading peace building charity, Co-operation Ireland.
With a strong focus on a conciliatory approach, Siddique is able to advise clients on matters relating to divorce, financial remedy (ancillary relief) and child contact and custody disputes. Siddique has a special interest in child abduction matters with an international element and regularly advises parties on both sides in child contact and custody disputes. He also advises clients in respect of matrimonial breakdown and all the disputes relating to money and property which flow from this.
Siddique has expertise in the rules relating to Islamic Talaq and the validity of religious marriages and divorces performed abroad. He is also one of the few solicitors in the North of England who can directly help Muslim women obtain their Islamic Talaq and has been helping Muslim women and couples for the last 13 years. Siddique is also a regular contributor on the Jordans Family Law Website, writing about his expertise in Islamic family law.
He provides training to various organisations and has delivered seminars to the Leeds Law Society, West Yorkshire Police and Resolution. He is also Deputy Director of the Register Our Marriage Campaign which is working to change the law so that marriages of all faiths are registered.
If you would like to speak to Siddique, please do not hesitate to contact him on siddique.patel@shoosmiths.co.uk or alternatively on 07545 543 010.
1 SEP 2026
