Humphries Kerstetter LLP

Commercial litigation and arbitration

James Russell is a partner at HK with 20 years’ experience of contentious commercial practice. He is recognised as a Leading Individual by the Legal 500 for financial disputes.

James trained and worked at Linklaters LLP for a number of years before joining the firm in 2010. He has a broad commercial background but is particularly experienced in company law issues, financial disputes, professional negligence and insolvency litigation. He regularly acts for and against banks and financial institutions, corporates and funds. This extends to group actions in the financial services sector. He is also an experienced solicitor – advocate who conducts much of his own written and oral advocacy, including at trial level.

James is an experienced, pragmatic, litigator with a hands-on approach which is highly valued by clients. He has particular experience of complex financial disputes involving company law issues and breaches of fiduciary duty and he has given evidence in foreign proceedings on matters of English law in this field. He is also experienced in insolvency litigation (acting for and against office-holders), civil fraud and failed investment schemes. He is a member of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association and has extensive experience of claims involving accountants and solicitors, from both a claimant and defendant perspective. Relatedly, he has a keen interest in ethics and professional regulation, with a focus on conflicts of interest in professional practice. Together with HK partner Toby Starr he advised the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking in relation to proposed reforms to insolvency regulation in this area.

James conducts much of his own written and oral advocacy. Following Mark Humphries’ example, he is one of the few solicitor advocates regularly to appear in the Commercial Court in London, including against leading counsel. He also appears in the Business and Property Courts (Insolvency List) and as the lead advocate in arbitral proceedings. His current and recent cases include one of the largest claims brought against Visa and Mastercard in relation to unlawful interchange fees, a high-profile FX hedging dispute between Goldman Sachs and one of the world’s largest wine producers, a multi-million pound dispute with bondholders in relation to the acceleration of a €1.3bn secured loan and the representation of shareholders in the high profile Core VCT liquidation in which claims for breach of duty are being pursued against the former managers and liquidators of a publicly listed venture capital trust.

James is commercially minded and entrepreneurial. He has founded, and retains an interest in, two successful businesses outside law, including a well-known classic car restoration specialist.

English and fluent Spanish.

2001 – 2002: City LPC (Commendation) – The Oxford Institute of Legal Practice. 2000 – 2001: CPE (Commendation) – The College of Law, Guildford. 1996 – 2000: B.A. Spanish (First Class) – The University of Southampton.