Call 2005
"Really excellent at rolling up his sleeves and getting involved in cases. He is very sensible and good at reading and understanding how to put a case before the judge. He's a great person to have on your team."
Chambers & Partners
Mark O’Neill
Team Leader
+44 (0)20 7842 3777
Click here to email
Fraser Linning
Team Leader's Assistant
+44 (0)20 7842 3708
Click here to email
James Duffy has been regularly instructed in some of the most high-profile and high-value commercial litigation in recent years.
In addition to his instructions as part of a larger counsel team, James acts as sole counsel, including in relation to arbitration.
He has a broad commercial and civil practice in line with Chambers’ profile and is regularly instructed across a wide range of commercial and civil practice areas.
Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National & Others
Acting for the Lloyds Banking Group (with Bankim Thanki QC, Richard Handyside QC and Edward Levey) in the OFT test case on bank overdraft charges, including appearing in the Supreme Court.
Crédit Agricole & FGIC v IKB
Instructed by the German bank IKB (with David Railton QC and Derrick Dale QC) in relation to a fraud claim for damages of more than $2 billion in connection with various complex securitisation transactions and listed for a 10-week trial in the Commercial Court.
American Reliable & CNA v Willis
Representing Willis (with Christopher Hancock QC, Bankim Thanki QC, Richard Coleman and Alexander Gunning) in respect of very substantial claims for damages of over $500 million arising out of the PA LMX reinsurance market.
Barclays Bank v UniCredit
Acting for Barclays (with David Railton QC and Giles Wheeler) against UniCredit in a trial of a substantial ‘credit crunch’-related matter in the Commercial Court.
Instructed by Vincent Tchenguiz in a £200 million damages claim against the Serious Fraud Office (with Bankim Thanki QC and Rosalind Phelps).
Durham Tees Valley Airport v bmibaby
Acting (led by Akhil Shah QC) for the low-cost airline in a substantial dispute concerning the economic operation of low cost airlines and their contractual relationships with regional airports, following the Court of Appeal decision on liability ([2011] 1 All E.R. (Comm) 731). The case involved complex expert evidence in the fields of aviation network profiling and airport economics.
Shaker v VistaJet
Acting (with Akhil Shah QC) for VistaJet, a leading luxury aviation company for private jet charter and ownership, in a case concerning the aborted sale of an aircraft and which raised issues as to the enforceability of agreements to agree and contractual estoppel.
London Luton Airport v APCOA Parking
Acting as sole counsel for Luton Airport in its claim in the Commercial Court which involved the proper construction of a concession agreement.
James is frequently instructed in relation to a wide range of banking and finance disputes of varying levels of complexity and size.
Barclays Bank v UniCredit [2012] EWHC 3655 (Comm)
Acting for Barclays in its substantial claim against the German and Austrian subsidiaries of UniCredit (led by David Railton QC and Giles Wheeler). The two-week trial of the action concerned whether it was “commercially reasonable” for a bank to refuse to consent to the early termination of a securitisation transaction unless and until it had received five years’ fees.
Merrill Lynch v Florence; UBS v Florence; Dexia v Florence
Acting for the City of Florence (led by Patricia Robertson QC) in its defence of claims issued by three investment banks involving the application of the court’s discretion in respect of claims for declaratory relief and the Italian local authority’s capacity to enter into certain derivative transactions.
Alexander & Others v Clydesdale Financial Services
Acting (with Andrew Mitchell QC and Tamara Oppenheimer) for Clydesdale Financial Services in connection with over 200 claims brought by consumers under s.75 and s.56 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 arising out of alleged mis-selling of timeshares.
Crédit Agricole & FGIC v IKB
Instructed (with David Railton QC and Derrick Dale QC) by the German bank IKB in defending one of the largest credit crunch-related claims in the Commercial Court. The claim involved allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation in relation to a series of structured securitisation transactions and in which the claimants sought over $2 billion in damages. The case settled shortly before trial, which had been listed for 10-weeks in Michaelmas term 2011. (Described as one of the top 20 trials of 2011 in The Lawyer.)
Dhadhi & Others v Barclays Bank
Acting (with Andrew Mitchell QC) for Barclays in respect of claims concerning wide-spread mortgage/valuation frauds and involving purchasers, solicitors and valuers. The trial of the action was listed for five weeks.
Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National & Others [2008] 2 All ER (Comm) 625; [2009] 2 W.L.R. 1286; [2010] 1 A.C. 696
Acting (with Bankim Thanki QC, Richard Handyside QC and Edward Levey) for Lloyds Banking Group in the test case brought by the OFT in respect of bank overdraft charges. James appeared in the Commercial Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in relation to the trial of certain preliminary issues. (Described as one of the top 10 cases of 2009 in The Lawyer.) He has advised and represented the bank on various aspects in relation to the ongoing litigation in the county courts.
JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov & Others
Instructed (with Brian Doctor QC) in relation to various applications in the Chancery Division in connection with this very substantial litigation concerning the fraudulent misappropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars by Mr Ablyazov and others from BTA Bank in Kazakhstan.
Advising (with Richard Handyside QC) a payment service provider for credit and debit card transactions in relation to its complex contractual arrangements with VISA and MasterCard among others.
MASNOL v Edward Symmons
Acting (with Mark Simpson QC and Jamie Smith) in proceedings concerning the recoverability of the breakages costs of portfolio hedges.
Acting for Barclays Private Banking in its defence of a multi-million-pound claim regarding the alleged mis-selling of commercial property investment funds.
Acting for NatWest/RBS in a number of claims in relation to the alleged mis-selling of interest rate swap agreements.
Acting (with John Taylor) in relation to various claims for fraud and conspiracy in relation to substantial financial investments.
Instructed by Clydesdale Financial Services and Barclays as sole counsel in connection with various claims brought by consumers under s.75 and s.56 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 arising out of alleged mis-selling of products.
Advising a Luxembourg investment company in relation to claims arising out of the mis-selling of longevity contingent zero coupon notes.
Instructed by JP Morgan in respect of both a multi-million euro claim on a credit facility agreement and a claim for mistaken payment.
Acting for RBS in proceedings concerning the alleged misrepresentation of various loan facilities and guarantees. James was instructed as sole counsel for a trial listed for one week.
Acting for numerous banks (including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Capital One) in relation to various disputes involving Consumer Credit Act issues.
Appearing for Lloyds Banking Group in a claim concerning alleged negligent misrepresentations and advice.
Representing a lender in a substantial claim before the High Court concerning negligent advice.
James’ practice covers a wide range of domestic and international commercial dispute resolution, in both arbitration and litigation.
Crédit Agricole & FGIC v IKB
Instructed (with David Railton QC and Derrick Dale QC) by the German bank IKB in defending one of the largest credit crunch-related claims in the Commercial Court. The claim involved allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation in relation to a series of structured securitisation transactions and in which the claimants sought over $2 billion in damages. The case settled shortly before trial, which had been listed for 10-weeks in Michaelmas term 2011. (Described as one of the top 20 trials of 2011 in The Lawyer.)
Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National & Others [2008] 2 All ER (Comm) 625; [2009] 2 W.L.R. 1286; [2010] 1 A.C. 696
Acting (with Bankim Thanki QC, Richard Handyside QC and Edward Levey) for Lloyds Banking Group in the test case brought by the OFT in respect of bank overdraft charges. James appeared in the Commercial Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in relation to the trial of certain preliminary issues. (Described as one of the top 10 cases of 2009 in The Lawyer.) He has advised and represented the bank on various aspects in relation to the ongoing litigation in the county courts.
Barclays Bank v UniCredit [2012] EWHC 3655 (Comm)
Acting for Barclays in its substantial claim against the German and Austrian subsidiaries of UniCredit (led by David Railton QC and Giles Wheeler). The two-week trial of the action concerned whether it was “commercially reasonable” for a bank to refuse to consent to the early termination of a securitisation transaction unless and until it had received five years’ fees.
Merrill Lynch v Florence; UBS v Florence; Dexia v Florence
Acting for the City of Florence (led by Patricia Robertson QC) in its defence of claims issued by three investment banks involving the application of the court’s discretion in respect of claims for declaratory relief and the Italian local authority’s capacity to enter into certain derivative transactions.
Rawlinson & Hunter Trustees & Others v Serious Fraud Office
Acting for Vincent Tchenguiz and various corporate entities in a £200 million damages claim against the Serious Fraud Office (with Bankim Thanki QC and Rosalind Phelps).
Re: The Buncefield Incident - Shell v Total
Acting for Shell in the high-profile litigation arising out of the Buncefield Oil Depot fire in December 2005 (with Richard Handyside QC). James was instructed in relation to the quantum proceedings, drafting the claim for damages against Total amounting to over $150 million.
Quebec Tobacco Litigation
Acting (with Bankim Thanki QC) for a partner with Hogan Lovells in giving evidence in the class action before the Superior Court of Quebec against Imperial Tobacco.
UBM v GfK
Acting (led by David Railton QC and Marcus Smith) in relation to a multi-million pound claim concerning the proper construction of a share purchase agreement.
Ting v Akai Holdings
Acting (with Craig Orr QC) in interlocutory proceedings in Bermuda arising out of the collapse of Akai, Hong Kong’s biggest corporate bankruptcy. The case raised issues of res judicata, abuse of process and contractual construction.
Acting (with Richard Handyside QC) for the defendant in proceedings between two international private equity firms arising out of a transaction for the sale of an automotive business.
JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov & Others
Acting (with Brian Doctor QC) in various applications in respect of claims of legal professional privilege over certain seized documents.
State Street v Mourant
Acting for State Street in its claims under a share purchase agreement concerning the multi-national acquisition of various businesses.
Acting (with Marcus Smith QC) for a transportation business in relation to claims arising out of the purchase of a luxury chauffeur service.
Benedetti v April Holding
Appearing as sole counsel in an application in connection with the long-running dispute arising out of the acquisition of Wind Telecom.
Acting for Ecobank Nigeria in its application to set aside a registration order which had been improperly registered in the English courts.
Acting for an international trading company in relation to claims for breach of fiduciary duty, dishonest assistance and tracing brought against its former director and advisors.
Acting for Aspinall’s Club, a high-profile London casino, in a number of disputes concerning the Gaming Acts and the Gambling Act 2005.
Re: The Buncefield Incident - Shell v Total
Acting for Shell in the high-profile litigation arising out of the Buncefield Oil Depot fire in December 2005 (with Richard Handyside QC). James was instructed in relation to the quantum proceedings, drafting the claim for damages against Total amounting to over $150 million.
Acting as sole counsel in a five-day arbitration concerning the construction of a force majeure provision in an international coal supply agreement.
Acting for a manufacturer of electricity generators in relation to a substantial dispute with a company producing wind turbines which concerned the proper construction of a long-term supply contract.
In addition to work in connection with more substantial disputes, James is regularly instructed as sole counsel in relation to smaller scale disputes, across a range of insurance products and for a range of insurers, brokers and advisers (including the sale of life insurance policies, coverage disputes, and negligent mis-selling).
American Reliable & CNA v Willis
Acting for over two years (with Christopher Hancock QC, Bankim Thanki QC, Richard Coleman and Alexander Gunning) for Willis in a claim brought by a reinsurer for losses in excess of $250 million arising out of the PA LMX reinsurance market. The claim involved allegations of dishonest assistance, misrepresentation and negligence, as well as an appeal on a point of case management (described as one of the top ten trials of 2009 in The Lawyer).
Morini Ltd v Moffatt Saunders
Instructed (with Mark Simpson QC) on behalf of an insurance broker in relation to a claim for negligence following a dispute as to the coverage of the policy.
American Reliable & CNA v Willis
Acting for over two years (with Christopher Hancock QC, Bankim Thanki QC, Richard Coleman and Alexander Gunning) for Willis in a claim brought by a reinsurer for losses in excess of $250 million arising out of the PA LMX reinsurance market. The claim involved allegations of dishonest assistance, misrepresentation and negligence, as well as an appeal on a point of case management (described as one of the top ten trials of 2009 in The Lawyer).
Morini Ltd v Moffatt Saunders
Instructed (with Mark Simpson QC) on behalf of an insurance broker in relation to a claim for negligence following a dispute as to the coverage of the policy.
MASNOL v Edward Symonds
Acting (with Mark Simpson QC and Jamie Smith) for a surveyor facing substantial claims for negligent valuation of commercial properties, including for the breakage costs of certain hedges entered into in relation to the loan portfolio.
Acting (with Craig Orr QC) for a private individual in bringing a claim in negligence against a well-known firm of tax advisors.
17 Fountain Court members appear in seven of The Lawyer’s ‘Top 20…
The High Court (Sir Andrew Smith sitting as a Judge of the…
Three Cypriot companies purporting to hold a minority stake in Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s…
Mark O’Neill
Team Leader
+44 (0)20 7842 3777
Click here to email
Fraser Linning
Team Leader's Assistant
+44 (0)20 7842 3708
Click here to email
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