James Comyn

Sir James Peter Comyn (8 March 1921 – 5 January 1997) was an Irish-born barrister and English High Court judge. The scion of a prominent Nationalist legal family, Comyn was sent to England after they fell out with Éamon de Valera. Considered by many to be "the finest all-round advocate at the English bar", However, the Comyn brothers fell out with de Valera shortly before he came to power in 1932, and Michael Comyn was passed over as Attorney-General of the Free State. As a result, James Comyn, who was then attending Belvedere College in Dublin, was sent by his father to attend The Oratory School in England.

Comyn then matriculated at New College, Oxford, where he read law, graduating with second-class honours. Comyn won the case. and acquired a large practice as a senior, appearing in many high-profile cases. In 1964, he won damages for libel for the former safe-breaker Alfie Hinds against a Scotland Yard inspector by convincing the jury that Hinds was in fact innocent. He was elected a bencher of the Inner Temple in 1968, and served as chairman of the Bar council from 1973 to 1974. Initially assigned to the Family Division, he did not take to the work, and was reassigned to the Queen's Bench Division in 1979.