James Wise

As a counsel in our litigation practice, James acts on some of our most complex, high-value and hard-fought instructions.  

James represents clients based in Europe and the CIS region, and acts for financial institutions, mining and industrial conglomerates, large corporates as well as high net worth individuals.  He has acted on some of the largest value and most high-profile commercial fraud cases to come before the English courts, cases which have broken new ground on matters such as the operation of freezing orders, the appointment of receivers over Defendants' assets, and committal for contempt of court.  He is experienced litigating in off-shore jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus, pursuing foreign law claims in England and enforcing English judgments domestically and overseas.

James also acts on a wide range of non-fraud related commercial disputes, including shareholder disputes, fiduciary duty claims against directors, contractual claims and competition disputes.  James also has a particular interest in crypto-assets, and is experienced in managing the novel challenges and opportunities that their increasing use presents for litigants in England and abroad.

James' representative experience includes acting for JSC BTA Bank in its long-running international litigation against Mukhtar Ablyazov and others,  acting for Victor Pinchuk in a High Court dispute over ferroalloy assets valued at over US$1 billion and acting for JSC Commercial Bank PrivatBank in its US$1.9 billion High Court claim against its former owners.

James holds his higher rights of audience, permitting him to appear as an advocate at all levels of the English civil courts.