Criminal Law Experience

Throughout his career, James has specialised in criminal law and now only practices in this area. He moved to Launceston in 2008 and commenced working in private practice at Archer Bushby, where he worked in general litigation and criminal law.

Between 2012 and 2023 James worked for Legal Aid in a range of criminal law roles before being appointed Associate Director Criminal Law. In that role, he was responsible for leadership of the statewide criminal practice at Legal Aid. His experience with Legal Aid means that he appreciates how important legal aid funding is to the operation of the criminal justice system. He takes on Legal Aid cases and can apply for funding on your behalf without you having to contact Legal Aid directly.

James has conducted many jury trials for a range of crimes, achieving not guilty verdicts in murder, rape, arson, robbery, assault, and wounding trials. He has appeared on a range of complex cases in the Supreme Court including special hearings to determine fitness to stand trial, cases with clients who had significant mental impairments and complex sentencing hearings.
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He has appeared in the Magistrates Court countless times for bail applications, hearings, disputed facts hearings, special hearings, pleas of guilty, court mandated drug cases, mental health diversion list cases, youth justice cases and many others.

James has also appeared on a range of appeals in the Court of Criminal Appeal and in the Supreme Court, where his clients have had their sentence reduced. He has a track record of success and of getting his clients great results. He takes pride in listening carefully to his clients and ensuring their case is presented as robustly as possible.

James Oxley is a current member of The Law Society of Tasmania's Criminal Law Committee.