James is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team.

An experienced commercial litigator with expertise in commercial contractual disputes in areas such as engineering, manufacturing, entertainment, IT and asset/share sales, shareholder and partnership disputes including claims for breach of fiduciary duty, misfeasance and restraint of trade, professional negligence, contentious insolvency and civil fraud (deceit, conspiracy, breach of trust). He is frequently instructed on disputes running into the many millions of pounds and often with a multi-party, or jurisdictional, element to them.

James frequently engages in arbitration as well as other forms of dispute resolution such as mediation and expert determination and he has particular expertise in the appeals process having frequently represented parties in the Court of Appeal as well as the Supreme Court. He is also experienced in has procuring freezing injunctions, search and seizure orders and mandatory injunctions.

Clients include European Institutions, plc’s and utilities to charities and owner managed businesses. He has been frequently instructed by the European Commission and has represented the European Union and the European Council in the High Court as well as the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Examples of how James has supported clients include:

  • Supporting the European Commission acting as intervener in the Court of Appeal in support of the Competition and Markets Authority against Flynn Pharma and Pfizer Inc and in the Supreme Court in the cases of Sainsburys Supermarkets & Others v Visa and Mastercard and, on behalf of the European Union in support of the state of Romania, in the case of Micula v Romania;
  • Representing a major national supplier of building products in a multi-million pound dispute with a major national house builder over the supply of allegedly defective concrete blocks for use on a number of housebuilding sites in the South East;
  • Acting for a supplier of software licencing, hardware and computer services in relation to a dispute in the Commercial Court concerning the provision of an IT security solution for a customer acting as agent on behalf of the Ministry of Defence; and
  • Acting for one of the world’s largest privately owned media businesses in a dispute concerning the termination of a number of contracts and alleged breaches of contract, with a supplier of two annual live entertainment shows.