James Stuart

James Stuart is an English barrister, specialising in commercial dispute resolution and litigation. His practice focuses upon shareholder disputes, company and insolvency, partnerships, franchises, employment, insurance, guarantees, banking and supply of goods and services. James represents individual and corporate Claimants and Defendants, and has built up considerable experience in recent years in conducting more protracted cases, often with an international element. He regularly deals with applications for Freezing Orders and other injunctions in restrictive covenant, confidentiality and similar disputes.

Recent publications: In July 2022, James wrote an article for Lexis PSL entitled Carriage of Goods and CMR Convention on the recent commercial court case Knapfield v C.A.R.S. which can be read here.

James is a member of COMBAR, Employment Law Bar Association, Employment Lawyers Association, and TECBAR.

Further information

Qualifications

MA (Law) Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge

Memberships

COMBAR, Employment Law Bar Association, Employment Lawyers Association, R3, TECBAR, Bar Golfing Society

Insolvency

James is regularly instructed in personal and corporate and partnership insolvency matters, representing administrators, liquidators, companies, LLPs, creditors, company directors and individuals facing personal bankruptcy proceedings. He has significant experience in Company Directors Disqualification proceedings (dating back to representing the successful directors in a Carecraft procedure in SSTI -v- Banarse [1997] 1 BCLC 653).

More recently he has advised liquidators and administrators in relation to assigning causes of action, valuing such choses of action and deeds of settlement between companies in administration or liquidation and the directors of those companies.

Examples of recent insolvency work

Harrling -v- Midgley 2019 EWHC 3278 (Ch) – This case related to Guarantees, insolvency and statutory demands
Advising Liquidators upon, and drafting deeds of settlement and release and assignments of causes of action under ss.212/238/239 & 423 Insolvency Act 1986 and advising re s.246ZD IA 1986. [Feb 2018]
Representing creditor in defending claim brought by liquidators of a company under s.127 Insolvency Act 1986 – monies paid by Company to creditor post-presentation of winding-up petition – advising upon the application of Express Electrical Distributors Ltd -v- Beavis [2016] EWCA Civ 465 [May 2018]
Successfully representing company director in Company Director Disqualification Proceedings brought under s.5 CDDA 1986 – Court exercised discretion not to disqualify the director
Advising Administrators upon methodology for valuing choses in action to be assigned.

Seminars/Training

Company Directors Disqualification Proceedings – A guide to process and assessment of length of disqualification.
Express Electrical Distributors Ltd -v- Beavis – Claims under s.127 IA for void transactions.