LAWYER PROFILE
James Turnbull

James Turnbull

UK 2026

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Ranked in 1 practice area

About

Provided by Walkers

UK

Practice Areas

James is a Jersey Advocate with more than a decade's experience as a Jersey litigation lawyer, specialising in contentious trusts matters and commercial disputes.

He is a partner in the firm's Insolvency & Dispute Resolution Practice Group, acting mainly on complex trust and cross-border commercial disputes, including on cases that have gone before the Privy Council. His commercial litigation experience encompasses disputes involving fraud, asset-tracing and directors' duties.

Professional Memberships

- Law Society of England and Wales

- Law Society of Jersey

- Overseas Member of the Chancery Bar Association

- ConTrA (the Contentious Trusts Associates & Junior Counsel network)

Work Highlights

A selection of James' recent representative experience includes:

- Sheyko v Consolidated Minerals Limited: leading a team including associates, barristers and paralegals on a vast ediscovery exercise involving more than 19 million documents in English and Chinese, appearing at the related procedural hearings and liaising with colleagues in Hong Kong in relation to the case.

- The Federal Republic of Brazil and other v Durant Corporation and another: James assisted with this case which was determined by the Privy Council and gave rise to a landmark judgment on the availability of backwards tracing.

- Walker and others v Egerton-Vernon and others: James was part of the team working on this high value case which involved a breach of trust claim and in which the Royal Court determined the principles of empĂȘchement and prescription in respect of claims brought by a trustee of a Jersey trust.

- Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC v Ridley and another: James acted for the Defendant in relation to a tracing claim to recover assets from a Jersey trust and appeared as advocate in relation to a strike out application brought by the Plaintiff in respect of certain aspects of the Defendant's pleaded case. The application raised novel issues of private international law.

- Tepe Insaat Sanayii SA v Boru Hatlari lle Petrol Tasima AS and others: This case has produced landmark judgments on the principles of sovereign immunity in respect of State-owned shareholdings and the court's jurisdiction to arrest assets situated outside its jurisdiction in the Royal Court and on appeal to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council.

Experience

James trained with Allen & Overy LLP and spent time in the firm's Litigation Department as part of the Trust, Asset Tracing and Fraud team working closely with the partner heading that team.

James gained experience of a range of litigation matters, including particularly trusts disputes, at a large Channel Islands firm before joining Walkers.

He has acted on some of the highest value and most complex cases before the Jersey courts during his time with Walkers.

Education

University of York

Bachelors, History

2002 - 2005

BPP Law School

Postgraduate Diploma, Law

2005 - 2006

College of Law, London

Legal Practice Course (LPC)

2006 - 2007

Industry Sector Expertise

Insolvency and Dispute Resolution

Expert in these Jurisdictions

- Jersey

- England and Wales (not practising)

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession

Offshore: Dispute Resolution - Jersey

Up-and-coming Individual
Up and Coming

Individual Editorial

James Turnbull has a burgeoning practice in contentious trust matters and commercial disputes.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

  • James always makes himself available, has excellent judgement and a real knack for identifying what is important to the client.

    Offshore: Dispute ResolutionChambers Guide to the Legal Profession
  • James is a fountain of knowledge and advice. His ability to explain the complexities in an understandable way is greatly appreciated.

    Offshore: Dispute ResolutionChambers Guide to the Legal Profession
  • James is proactive, technically strong and easy to deal with.

    Offshore: Dispute ResolutionChambers Guide to the Legal Profession
  • James is a highly skilled lawyer and his knowledge and experience make him a real asset to any case.

    Offshore: Dispute ResolutionChambers Guide to the Legal Profession

Ranked Individuals at Walkers (37)

Guernsey

Jersey

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