Described by Chambers & Partners as having a “tigerish style” and with Legal 500 calling him “highly esteemed”, James is widely regarded as a consummate expert in his field.

His particular areas of expertise include:

• Chancery and commercial litigation (commonly with an international element)
• Company law, including in particular shareholder disputes, claims by and against directors and disqualification of directors
• Insolvency - corporate and personal
• Intellectual property - including trade marks, passing off and copyright
• Arbitration and mediation

Reported cases include:
Harper –v- Interchange Group Limited [2007] EWHC 1834 (Comm)
Nearfield Limited –v- Lincoln Nominees Limited [2007] 1 All ER (Comm) 441
Chahal -v- Mahal  et al [2005] 2 BCLC 655
Re Ross (No. 2) [2002] BPIR
Re Rotadata Limited [2000] 1 BCLC 122 (minority shareholder rights)
Re Maple Environmental Services Limited [2000] BCC 93 (voluntary arrangements)
Official Receiver -v- Brady [1999] BCC 258 (companies as directors).
Forbes -v- Smith [1998] 1 All ER 973 (confidentiality of judgments)
Re Lichfield Freight Terminal Limited [1997] 2 BCLC 109 (disqualification).
Re Gibson Davis Limited [1995] BCC 11 (disqualification) (disqualification)

Recent work includes:

• A trial in the Turks and Caicos Islands concerning the sale and development of a plot of land worth $US 36 million in Grace Bay, Providenciales
• Litigation in Jersey alleging breach of trust against a Jersey Trust company
• A shareholder dispute in Anguilla involving shares worth up to $US 200 million
• An action in St Kitts & Nevis for specific performance of a contract for the sale of land
• A multi-million dollar trust claim in the Royal Court of Jersey against a trust company in Anguilla (with various interim and Beddoe applications in Anguilla)
• Advising an appellant in an appeal to the House of Lords in a case principally about resulting and constructive trusts in a quasi-matrimonial context
• A multi-million pound claim and counter-claim between a US international franchisor and its London franchisee
• Trade mark and related litigation between an international motor manufacturer and its English dealers
• Bankruptcy litigation in the Court of Appeal arising out of concealed beneficial ownership of foreign assets

STEP Caribbean conference, The Cayman Islands,  May 2007 (“In the Red: Trusts, Liabilities and Insolvency”)

Deputy High Court Judge in England and Wales (also sits in Mercantile Courts)

Recorder

CEDR Registered Mediator

Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Panel of Mediators, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators

Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators

Panel of Arbitrators, London Court of International Arbitration

Panel of Experts, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre

Panel of Arbitrators & Mediators, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

Admitted as Legal Practitioner, New South Wales

Admitted as Barrister of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Anguilla, St Kitts & Nevis, British Virgin Islands)

Attorney (pro hac), Turks and Caicos Islands

Barrister, Ireland and Northern Ireland

STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners)

ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists)

Commercial Bar Association
Chancery Bar Association
Employment Law Bar Association
Business & Property Team – Zenith Chambers

Inner Temple - Duke of Edinburgh Scholar
Ashworth Scholar

Ll.B, LL.M Exeter University

His passions include jazz, the Cinema and Rugby League.

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