In September 1989, James commenced as a reader with Mr John Middleton (as he then was – now his Honour Justice Middleton of the Federal Court) at Aickin Chambers.
Trial Counsel
James considers himself primarily a trial counsel.
In recent years James’ practice has consisted primarily of conducting Supreme Court and Federal Court commercial litigation briefed by both large Melbourne and Sydney firms and smaller legal practices in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. In earlier years, James conducted numerous hearings in the Magistrates’ Court and then the County Court and VCAT.
James conducts the bulk of his briefs on his own, however he has, on numerous occasions, been briefed as junior counsel. He has been junior to, among others, John Middleton QC (as he was then), Peter Bick QC, and David Shavin QC.
More recently he has been briefed with a junior or have sought and obtained one. His juniors have included Georgie Costello, Justin Graham, Daniel Harrison, Glen Pauline, Suzie Jones, Garry Moffatt and James McKay, all of counsel.
In the last couple of years, James has often appeared in matters interstate, particularly in the Supreme and Federal Courts of New South Wales and Queensland. Given that interstate flavour, he is considering taking Chambers in Sydney. James has been asked by the Board of Edmund Barton Chambers to join their floor and is considering that offer.
Banking & Finance
For many years a substantial aspect of James’ practice has been banking law, primarily for Commonwealth Bank, briefed by its in-house and its retained solicitors. Two of his three readers, Samantha Cipriano and Garry Moffatt, were former employees of CBA. Garry was the head of litigation there for 15 years. James has also acted for ANZ Trustees, briefed by Ms Jane Sheridan, a partner at Arnold Bloch Leibler, and Bendigo Bank. James has conducted many County Court and Supreme Court trials for those banks.
Intellectual Property
James has also briefed regularly by Freehills. In particular, James conducted, initially on his own and in the latter stages led by Mr David Shavin QC, a substantial intellectual property litigation for Smorgon Steel in the Federal Court of Queensland. His instructor in that matter was intellectual property partner Mr Shaun McVicar.
Injunctions
James has always had a substantial practice making applications for injunctions of various kinds and is capable of acting swiftly and competently under pressure to produce a speedy outcome if required.
