James handles a wide range of commercial disputes, including both High Court litigation and arbitration.
James joined Stevens & Bolton on qualification in 2014 and became a Managing Associate in 2022. Prior to pursuing a career in law, James worked as a policy adviser at the Home Office and has also worked in the wine industry, in which he maintains a keen interest.
Contractual disputes are a core focus of James’ practice and he regularly advises businesses across a range of sectors on commercial trading disputes, contract termination issues and post M&A claims. He also has a particular interest in fraud and asset recovery work and digital asset/crypto disputes.
James works closely with clients’ in-house legal teams and has spent time seconded to a client as interim general counsel. This provided valuable insight into the pressures faced by in-house lawyers and an understanding of what they need from external counsel.
Recent highlights include:
- Acting for a global insurer in a complex multimillion pound Commercial Court dispute concerning liability for insurance mis-selling redress paid to customers. The case involved contribution and contractual claims, regulatory issues, a fact pattern stretching back decades and procedural challenges in proving liability in relation to large volumes of underlying PPI complaints
- Secondment to a client to act as interim general counsel and run a project reviewing overhead supplier relationships and deliver savings
- Advising an individual who had fallen victim to a sophisticated investment fraud
- Acting for a telecommunications company in a Commercial Court dispute concerning contract termination
- Advising a US client on a post corporate deal warranty claim and an associated dispute concerning an alleged failure to deliver a software and printing solution
- Advising on post corporate deal warranty and fraud claims against the sellers
- Advising a client on embezzlement of company money by an employee
James writes for industry, legal and national publications on a range of legal matters but with a particular focus on fraud. Examples include an article on crypto fraud caselaw in City A.M. and an article on APP fraud and the Quincecare duty in the Law Society Gazette.