James was a judge's son and became an even more prominent lawyer himself. He helped to found the Free Church of Scotland. He was a moderate Whig reformist.
He became Solicitor-General for Scotland in 1850 then became Lord Advocate which necessitated finding a seat in Parliament. Leith Burghs was regarded as being in the pocket of the lord advocates. He held the post in the administrations of Aberdeen, Palmerston and Russell and the first year of Gladstone's ministry.He succeeded in abolishing almost all religious tests in Scottish universities in 1853 but his attempt to introduce a national, less sectarian system of elementary education in Scotland was defeated in 1854. James pursued this aim for the rest of his parliamentary career with limited success.
James was a good speaker with a powerful voice so he was used as a defender of the government at times such as defending Palmerston over the fall of Kars in 1856. He resisted moves to create a Scottish secretary to handle non-legal Scottish administration.
He was forced to relinquish Leith Burghs by a Radical faction in 1859 and moved to Edinburgh. There he came under pressure due to his lack of enthusiasm for Reform and failure in 1860 to fully remove public financial support for Anglican ministers. In 1865 his colleague Adam Black was ousted by the more Radical Duncan McLaren ( with whom James had clashed in a libel action in 1856 ) ; James took the hint and retreated to the newly created Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities seat.
James was highly respected and, although no Radical himself , was critical of those Liberals who reneged on promises of supporting Reform, holding that Liberals must have consistent political principles.
In 1869 he became Lord Justice Clerk ( in layman's terms a criminal judge ) which necessitated relinquishing his seat ( which was promptly lost to the Conservatives who held it until its abolition in 1918 ).
In 1871 he published the novel A Visit To My Discontented Cousin anonymously.
James practiced as a judge until 1888.He became a baron twice over being created Baron Moncreiff of Tulliebole in 1873 and then inheriting his brother's title of Baronet of Moncreiff in 1874.
He died in 1895 aged 83.
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