James MacDonald

Call 2005; BA(Hons)(Oxon); MA (KCL); CPE, BPP Law School
Email: jmacdonald@3vb.com

James specialises in commercial disputes, often with a banking aspect to them.  He is instructed in court and arbitration proceedings as sole advocate or as part of a counsel team.

James is recommended as a leading junior in commercial litigation by Chambers and Partners (2010-2012) and in banking and finance (Chambers and Partners 2012, Legal 500 2012). He was also identified as a future ‘star at the bar' both by Legal Week and by the Times Online. He is praised in these publications for his user friendliness, clear drafting style and his oral advocacy, with comments including:

• "a great advocate"
• "a definite star"
• "outstanding pleadings"
• "ticks all the boxes in terms of user-friendliness"
• "a standout draftsman who can condense incredibly complicated financial products into a few well-turned phrases"
• "quickly picks up the points that matter to the client and demonstrates incredible clarity in his written advice"

James has appeared in several of the most substantial commercial and banking cases of recent years.

A number of these have been concerned with investment banking, complex derivative products or securitisations: for example, DB v Sebastian Holdings (a $1bn claim relating to foreign exchange derivatives and prime brokerage), one of The Lawyer magazine's Top 20 cases of 2012; JP Morgan v Springwell (the $700m claim brought against JP Morgan for allegedly negligent investment advice); an application in the Lehmans insolvency relating to the transfer of a subordinated note position in a complex securitisation; and SCB v CPC (a $160m claim relating to oil derivatives, the appeal from which is due to be heard in May 2012). James has also recently been involved in a $200m LCIA arbitration relating to commodity derivatives.

James has also appeared in other major commercial disputes, including: British Gas v Accenture (the substantial claim brought by Centrica against Accenture in relation to the British Gas customer billing system), one of The Lawyer magazine's top 20 cases of 2011; and ALS v Honeywell (a £3.5 billion claim in relation to a failed automotive development project).

In a retail banking context, James has acted for HSBC in various test cases concerning the provision of credit by financial institutions to consumers (Carey v HSBC & Ors, and in the Court of Appeal, Brophy v HSBC and Brookes v HSBC) and now appears regularly in PPI and consumer credit litigation in the county courts. He was also involved in aspects of the "bank charges" dispute.

James is a regular contributor to Butterworths' Journal of International Banking & Financial Law.

Education

• BA History, Oxford - double-first
• MA in Philosophy, King's College, London
• CPE, BPP Law School, London - distinction
• BVC, Inns of Court School of Law - outstanding 

Awards

• Academic scholarship, Magdalen College, Oxford
• Full Studentship (Arts and Humanities Research Board)
• Princess Royal CPE and BVC Scholarships, Inner Temple (the top Inner Temple CPE scholarship)
• Barstow Scholarship, Inns of Court School of Law
• Inner Temple prize for outstanding performance on the BVC

Professional Membership

• Inner Temple
• COMBAR