James has extensive experience in structured financing and lease transactions, as well as dealing with natural resource clients, particularly oil, gas and energy companies.

He has been consistently ranked as a Leading Individual by Chambers Global since 2007. Clients regard him as ‘highly responsive and pragmatic with his advice and knowledge about the practical aspects of transactions’.

Chambers Global 2011 referred to James as a ‘great lawyer’ and in Chambers Global 2010 his peers considered him ‘a pleasure to work with’.

James has also been consistently recognised as an expert in corporate/M&A and banking and finance work by PLC Which Lawyer? since 2007. He was also recognised as a Cayman Islands leading lawyer in the 2009 and 2010 editions of IFLR1000 and was recognised in the 2012 Legal 500 Caribbean rankings.

He joined Appleby’s Bermuda office as an associate in 1999 and was advanced to counsel in 2002. He transferred to the Cayman Islands office in 2004 and became a partner in 2005. He moved to the London office in 2012.

Prior to joining the firm, James practised as an associate with DuMoulin Black, a boutique corporate finance firm in Vancouver, from 1994 to 1997, and as senior vice-president general counsel with an international publicly listed oil and gas exploration company from 1997 to 1999. He is a member of the Cayman Islands Law Society, the Law Society of British Columbia and the Queensland Law Society.