James Russell

Managing Partner

jr@humphrieskerstetter.com

+44 207 632 6904

Legal 500 Leading Individual

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.

Experience.

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.

Education and Languages.

  • 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.
  • 1992 – 1996: 3 A-Levels at A Grade – The Oratory School.

James speaks English and fluent Spanish. As a consequence, a number of his matters involve Spanish corporate clients or Spanish language elements.

Representative Matters.

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.

Banking

  • Representing a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander in defence of a €250m Commercial Court claim relating to the acceleration of a securitised loan.
  • Advising a family office on multi-million dollar claims against Credit Suisse arising out of the collapse of Greensill Capital.
  • Acting for an American Investment Bank in relation to a mandate dispute with a well-known UK private equity fund.
  • Acting in LCIA proceedings in relation to a loan to a Russian bank.
  • Acting on a number of matters relating to the sale of complex exchange rate derivatives sold to Spanish corporates by London based investment banks, including the defence of Commercial Court proceedings brought by Goldman Sachs International against J. García Carrión S.A.
  • Representing a financial broker in Commercial Court proceedings against Pardus Bond Plc relating to unpaid commissions (appearing as advocate).
  • Advising bondholders in relation to claims arising out of the liquidation of Blackmore Bond Plc.
  • Acting for a charitable organisation in relation to a substantial IRS mis-selling claim against a major UK bank.
  • Acting for Barcap plc in defence of a derivatives mis-selling claim brought by an Italian savings bank.

Insolvency/professional negligence

  • Appearing as advocate in the Chancery Division (Insolvency and Companies list) on behalf of the Core VCT Shareholder Action Group in contentious insolvency proceedings in relation to the Core VCT venture capital trusts.
  • Acting for the joint liquidators of a Guernsey property company in a claim for breach of trust against its English solicitors in relation to the diversion of company funds by a director.
  • Advising the joint liquidators of a fintech company on claims arising out of the unsuccessful acquisition of a technology platform.
  • Acting for the joint liquidators of a UK property company in a professional negligence claim against its former accountants.
  • Acting for the joint liquidators of One Blackfriars Limited in claims for breach of duty against the former administrators of the company.
  • Acting against a firm of solicitors in relation to a settlement agreement which had the inadvertent effect of settling causes of action against third party joint tortfeasors.
  • Acting for a charity in a conflict of interest claim against its former solicitors which resulted in disciplinary sanction against the defendant firm by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
  • Acting for the administrators of Lehman Brothers in relation to the “client money” litigation.
  • Acting for Ernst & Young in defence of multi-million pound audit negligence proceedings.

Company/Commercial

  • Representing a US pharmaceutical company in a regulatory and contractual dispute with a clinical testing laboratory in the UK.
  • Representing a Swedish telecoms company in breach of warranty claims relating to the acquisition of a UK infrastructure business.
  • Obtaining summary judgment and declaratory relief relating to the terms of a Settlement Deed in Commercial Court proceedings (appearing as advocate).
  • Acting in LCIA proceedings relating to the sale of a Russian manufacturing business (appearing as advocate).
  • Acting for the claimant in Commercial Court proceedings against a well-known plc in the corporate aviation sector.
  • Representing the majority shareholders and directors of a UK automotive business in defence of claims of unfair prejudice and breach of duty.
  • Conducting parallel proceedings in the Commercial Court (as advocate) and the Tax Tribunal in relation to the unauthorised release of millions of pounds worth of bonded tobacco into the UK as the result of an elaborate theft.
  • Acting for the former directors and shareholders of an international nano-technology business in defence of claims for breach of fiduciary duty.
  • Acting for the selling shareholder of a technology business in claims for misrepresentation and breach of contract against the purchaser of the business in the Commercial Court (appearing as advocate).
  • Acting for an HNW property developer in defence of claims of breach of fiduciary duty before the Guernsey courts.
  • Acting for Centrica plc in a £350m claim against Accenture plc relating to the implementation of a billing system for British Gas.
  • Acting for a leading investment bank in the high-profile termination of its CEO, which was subject to extensive media coverage.