James Smithdale is a barrister and Senior Associate in Quinn Emanuel’s London office. His practice covers all forms of commercial litigation and arbitration, with a particular focus on complex civil fraud, shipping, and commodities disputes.
James has significant experience of High Court commercial litigation, especially applications for urgent interim relief and those related to arbitration and enforcement. He has also acted for clients in a wide range of arbitrations, both domestic and international, under various institutional rules including investor-state (ICSID) disputes. He further has experience of ad hoc arbitrations, including under the LMAA Terms.
James previously practised as a barrister in a leading shipping and international trade chambers. Prior to that, James read Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford, where he was a scholar at Christ Church, graduating in 2011 with First Class Honours before returning in 2013 to read for the B.C.L., from which he graduated with Distinction, specialising in Conflict of Laws, Restitution of Unjust Enrichment, Commercial Remedies, and Transnational Commercial Law.
- University of Oxford
(B.C.L., Distinction, 2013) - University of Oxford
(M.A. (Oxon.), First Class Honours, Jurisprudence, 2011)
- The Bar of England and Wales