XXIV Old Buildings - Leading Commercial / Chancery Barristers
+44 (0)20 7691 2424
james.kane@xxiv.co.uk
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James Kane has developed a busy commercial chancery practice and regularly appears in the High Court and the County Court. He welcomes instructions across Chambers’ areas of specialism and is happy to work both as sole counsel and as part of a wider team.

James has begun to build a strong company and partnership law practice. Examples of his current and recent work include:

  • Acting (with Sarah Bayliss) for a respondent to a multi-million pound claim under section 994 of the Companies Act involving the responsibility of directors to scrutinise their co-directors’ actions (Re Solid Star [2023] EWHC 2277 (Ch)
  • Acting (with Rachael Earle of Wilberforce Chambers) for a solicitor in a dissolved partnership defending a claim by his former partner for breach of duty
  • Advising the petitioners in an unfair prejudice petition to be heard in the Business and Property Courts in Bristol
  • Advising a company in relation to allegations of electoral malpractice in the election of new directors

James also has a busy practice in the trusts and probate field, where his current and recent work includes:

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  • Acting (with Elspeth Talbot Rice KC) for beneficiaries bringing a claim for breach of trust against current and former trustees in multiple jurisdictions
  • Acting for the administrators of an intestate estate in an interest claim involving assets situated in multiple jurisdictions

James graduated with a first-class degree in Japanese from Oxford, where he received college scholarships and a University prize for coming top of his year. He then worked as a civil servant in London and Brussels and for a think tank before coming to the Bar. He obtained Distinctions while studying the GDL and the Bar Training Course and was awarded the Inner Temple’s top scholarship for the Bar Training year, as well as winning the Times Law Awards.

Expertise

  • Setting aside default judgment obtained against an airline in a claim for compensation under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.
  • Assisting in preparation for an appeal in the Court of Appeal against an account of commission due from a defendant airline to a claimant travel agency (Times Travel (UK) Ltd v Pakistan International Airlines [2022] EWCA Civ 415).
  • Assisting in preparations for a reference to the Upper Tribunal against disciplinary sanctions imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority.
  • Advising on restrictions on disclosure of information obtained from the Financial Conduct Authority.
  • Assisting in preparations for a claim for declaratory relief in relation to the limitation period governing complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (Shop Direct Finance Ltd v Official Receiver [2022] EWHC 1355 (Comm).
  • Advising an environmental NGO on potential breaches of duty by underwriters of bonds for fossil fuel projects.

Assisting at a four-day application hearing in a claim in relation to the misappropriation of funds

  • Securing the setting aside of a sham declaration of trust as part of proceedings to enforce a judgment debt
  • Acting (with Sarah Bayliss) for a respondent in an application for security for costs of an unfair prejudice petition (Re Solid Star Ltd [2023] EWHC 93 (Ch))
  • Advising (with Tim Sherwin) the defendant to a claim to enforce a personal guarantee
  • Setting aside a default judgment against a defendant airline
  • Acting for an unsuccessful claimant in costs proceedings: despite an order having been made against the claimant for costs on the indemnity basis, James succeeded in reducing the award by over 80% of the costs claimed
  • Drafting pleadings in a claim for unpaid fees in respect of a licensing agreement Drafting pleadings in a claim to enforce a foreign judgment
  • Acting (with Sarah Bayliss) for a respondent in multi-million pound unfair prejudice petitions involving allegations of fraud and questions concerning directors’ obligations to scrutinise their co-directors (Re Solid Star Ltd [2023] EWHC 2277 (Ch))
  • Acting (with Rachael Earle of Wilberforce Chambers) for a solicitor facing allegations of breach of partnership duty from his former partner
  • Advising the petitioners in a petition under s 994 Companies Act 2006
  • Advising a company limited by guarantee in relation to allegations of electoral malpractice in a contested election for new directors
  • Advising in relation to a proposed unfair prejudice petition and/or application for winding up on the just and equitable ground in Gibraltar

James regularly appears for both creditors and debtors in bankruptcy and winding-up petitions.

In addition, he has experience of:

  • A petition to wind up a company already in voluntary liquidation
  • A contested administration application involving allegations of bias against the proposed administrators
  • An application for the extension of an administration
  • A claim against insolvent company directors for transactions at an undervalue and defrauding creditors
  • Assisting at the trial of a claim to recover property allegedly transferred by a bankrupt at an undervalue or defrauding creditors (Hinton v Wotherspoon [2022] EWHC 2083 (Ch))
  • Advising in relation to a proposed unfair prejudice petition and/or application for winding up on the just and equitable ground in Gibraltar
  • Assisting in a judicial review of the decision of a Guernsey public body
  • Acting for the claimant tenant in a claim for damages for breach of a tenancy agreement
  • Acting for the claimant in a claim for nuisance caused by water damage
  • Acting (with Elspeth Talbot Rice KC) for the beneficiaries of a trust in a claim for breach of trust against current and former trustees in multiple jurisdictions
  • Acting for the administrators of an estate in an interest claim brought by a relative of the intestate deceased
  • Advising (with Tim Sherwin) the executors of an estate in relation to claims of lack of capacity
  • Assisting in an application to remove executors
  • Advising on a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
+44 (0)20 7691 2424
james.kane@xxiv.co.uk
Contact Clerks
Add to portfolio
Download CV (PDF)
Download vCard

College Scholarship (The Queen’s College, Oxford)

Gibbs Prize (highest mark in year, University of Oxford)

Lauréat de la promotion (highest mark in year, College of Europe, Bruges)

GDL Major Scholarship (Inner Temple)

Peter Taylor Scholarship (Inner Temple’s top Bar Course award)

Times Law Awards, winner

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