James Bailey

James has a busy practice spanning all areas of commercial law, including insurance and reinsurance, general commercial disputes, international arbitration, civil fraud, shipping, company and partnership disputes, and professional negligence.

James is regularly instructed in high-value court and arbitration proceedings both in London and abroad. He has a keen interest in appellate proceedings, having appeared in the Privy Council and appearing regularly in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal (BVI). James is also presently assisting with an appeal to the Federal Court of Malaysia on the seaworthiness obligation in the Hague Rules.

His current and recent instructions as junior counsel include acting for the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a US$1 billion fraud claim in the BVI (led by Tom Smith KC), successfully defending a US$65 million HKIAC joint venture dispute (led by David Allen KC), acting in a coverage dispute concerning professional indemnity insurance (led by James Brocklebank KC), and successfully defending a challenge under ss. 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 alleging bias by an arbitrator (led by Marcus Mander).

James has considerable advocacy experience, including making the oral submissions in a successful appeal in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal (Lau Man Sang, James v King Bun Limited BVIHCMAP 2022/0019), appearing as sole counsel in the High Court in a challenge under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 and appearing regularly in the Scottish courts, prior to transferring to the English Bar. James retains an interest in disputes with a Scottish dimension.

James studied law at the University of Edinburgh, where he was the second-most distinguished graduate in his year. James was then awarded a distinction in the MPhil in Law at the University of Oxford. James has also published articles and spoken at conferences on a variety of commercial matters and his research has been cited by the Law Commission. James is also a member of the Bar of the British Virgin Islands.

Recent reported decisions include:

• Annuity & Life Re Ltd v Kingboard Copper Foil Holdings Limited [2025] SC (Bda) 88 civ: instructed by the successful defendants (led by Jern-Fei Ng KC) in a dispute before the Supreme Court of Bermuda relating to an anti-embarrassment clause in a settlement agreement.
• V & Anor v K [2025] EWHC 1523 (Comm), [2025] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 90: appeared for the successful defendant (led by Marcus Mander) in a challenge under ss. 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 concerning allegations of apparent bias in an LMAA arbitration.
• McPhee v Colina Insurance Ltd [2023] UKPC 8: appeared as junior counsel led by Jawdat Khurshid KC representing the successful insurers in an appeal to the Privy Council regarding the lapse of a life insurance policy.
• Ducat Maritime Limited v Lavender Shipmanagement Incorporated (The “Majesty”) [2022] EWHC 766 (Comm), [2022] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 279: appeared as sole counsel before Butcher J in the High Court defending a challenge under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996.