James Russell is the managing partner at Humphries Kerstetter with nearly 20 years’ experience of contentious commercial practice. He is recognised as a Leading Individual by the Legal 500 for financial disputes.
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.
Client testimonials include:
‘Brings calm, common sense, clarity and foresight to the legal challenges that he faces.‘
‘Exceptional. Highly competent and extremely knowledgeable.‘
‘Combines a rigorous and analytical legal mind with a highly commercial approach.‘
James trained at Linklaters LLP, qualifying into the Litigation Department in 2004. He remained with Linklaters until 2010 when he left to join Mark Humphries in Bristol at the firm which is now Humphries Kerstetter. He left the firm in 2013 for geographical reasons when the firm relocated to London. During this time he founded a classic car business and became Head of Litigation at a leading regional practice. James followed the firm back to London in 2017, re-joining as a partner. He became managing partner in 2022.
James speaks English and fluent Spanish. As a consequence, a number of his matters involve Spanish corporate clients or Spanish language elements.
Relevant current and previous matters include financial product mis-selling and mis-management claims, funds and private equity disputes and shareholder actions. These include “top ten” cases as listed in “The Lawyer” magazine.