James Austen

Debt Recovery Team Manager

James joined Joseph James Law 3 years ago and immediately knew it was a company that has CORE values and aspirations to succeed.

James came from a management background and since 2018 has been managing the Firm’s Debt Recovery Department, managing an ever-growing team and thousands of cases over different clients.

James is ambitious to succeed and has a client focused manner that ensures clients receive the best experience whilst also forming lasting relationships.

Andy Beckett

Flight Claims Manager

Andy joined the JJL team in 2017 specialising in underwriting and developing the systems and processes supporting the business. He is also a qualified project manager to Prince 2 standard and has worked both in the Public and Private sector.

Andy really enjoys being part of the Joseph James Law ‘Family’ and is passionate about getting a fair result for our clients.

Gemma Coaker

Accounts Manager - Head of Accounts

18 years accounting experience, 16 years in the legal finance sector. Started in administration with Payroll, VAT and general accounting in 2005 and side stepped into Legal Accounting as a Legal Cashier in 2007. Worked my way up as Senior Cashier and then as an Accounts Manager.

Current role was to create and manage a fully functioning accounts department in 2018. Managing the day to day running of the accounts department, supervising the accounts team and workload and ensuring compliance with the SRA Accounts Rules.

Away from work, I enjoy nature, binging on Netflix series and going to the cinema.

Debbie Harris

Operations & HR Manager

Debbie Joined the firm in 2017 as a Team Leader. She has since progressed to Operations Manager where she oversees numerous departments within the firm. In 2020 Debbie also took over the role of HR Manager.

As Operations & HR Manager Debbie is responsible for running the firm’s busy call centre based in the Stockton office. Debbie is responsible for 6 Managers and 2 deputy Managers who head up various departments and is also the point of contact for the external IT department. Debbie reports directly to the Legal Director. As HR Manager, Debbie also supports all departments with any HR advise.

Outside of work Debbie is an animal lover who also enjoys reading and socialising.

Shola McBean

Plevin Litigation Manager

Shola initially joined Joseph James Law in April 2018 as a Customer Service Representative within our Flight Compensation Team. Shola demonstrated innovative to chasing debt internally for the Flight Compensation Team. As a result, Shola in October 2018 joined the Debt Recovery Department as a Debt Recovery Administrator. Shola's passion for litigation was quickly recognised and Shola soon progressed into a Paralegal role. In October 2019, the Financial Mis-selling / Consumer Credit Litigation Department developed within the Firm dealing with volume ‘Unfair Commission Cases’ and Shola was able to shift her litigation knowledge to the team. Shola received the JJL Innovation Award in 2019. As the business expanded, Shola was promoted to the Plevin Litigation Manager within the Department. Shola received the JJL Core Values Award in 2021.

In her spare time, Shola enjoys camping, trips to the beach and attempting new recipes.

Matthew Watson

Head of I.T. and Development

Before joining Joseph James Law, Matthew worked in a range of Customer Advisor roles, but he always knew a job in IT was what he really wanted. Matthew had studied IT at college but never really had the opportunity to apply it, other than on personal projects at home. Upon Joining Joseph James Law a few years ago, initially as a Claim Administrator, Matthew’s passion and knowledge for IT was quickly recognised and Matthew soon progressed into a Workflow and Development role.

Over that time, Matthew managed to learn, develop and work on some large development projects predominantly with the Proclaim platform. In addition to the development work he has worked closely with some of our clients and third parties to ensure a seamless process for referral of cases and integration with our systems with varied processes dependant on individual client/third party’s needs.