Fountain Court warmly congratulates James Duffy on his appointment to King’s Counsel, announced by the Lord Chancellor today.
James has been instructed on some of the most highly publicised and high-value disputes in recent years, across areas such as aviation, banking and finance, commercial disputes and professional negligence. Examples of his work include The Ingenious Litigation where he acted for UBS in defence of professional negligence claims brought by over 500 individuals in connection with a failed film finance tax scheme; FDIC v LIBOR Panel Banks where he represents Lloyds Banking Group in proceedings brought on behalf of over 39 failed US banks alleging fraudulent misrepresentation and anti-competitive collusion in relation to LIBOR submissions; and the Russian Aviation Litigation where he acts for two major insurers in extremely high-profile claims arising out of the alleged loss of aircraft in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine (named as one of The Lawyer’s ‘Top 20 Cases of 2024’).
He is described in the legal directories as “an outstanding barrister who clearly operates at junior silk level” and as “a brilliant junior and would be my top choice for just about any case”. He is currently ranked as a Leading Junior by both Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 for aviation, banking and finance (band 1), commercial disputes and group litigation, and additionally by The Legal 500 for professional negligence and Chambers & Partners for consumer finance. In 2023, he was nominated as Banking Junior of the Year by Chambers & Partners.
