Douglas James

Professional Liability

Douglas’s professional liability practice covers claims against professionals of all kinds, including solicitors, architects, surveyors, financial advisors and brokers.

Douglas recently completed a secondment to the Professional Indemnity team of a major firm of solicitors, where he handled claims about property, probate, divorce, tax, personal injury and company law matters.

Selected Cases

Douglas’s current and recent instructions include:

• Advising architects in a c. £16.5m claim about allegedly inadequate tender design and contract management on a private hospital development project (led by Ben Quiney KC).
• Advising an engineer on a fatal crane collapse (led by Richard Liddell KC)
• Advising a D&B contractor in a claim – currently put at £1.7m – against its architect for negligent preparatory and temporary works designs.
• Acting for solicitors in a c. £700k claim about alleged misadvising on employment redundancy terms that excluded personal injury claims.
• Acting for solicitors in a c. £600k lost injury claim.
• Acting for solicitors in a c. £300k claim about leasehold extensions – the claim raised important principles about the timing and calculation of loss.
• Acting for a regional commercial car dealer in a £100k claim for faulty servicing against its security maintenance company – KC opponent – the claim raised significant points about the chain of causation.
• Acting for solicitors in c. £110k proceedings about alleged misadvising on planning matters during a building development – the claim concerned the thorny issue of 2^nd limb Hadley v Baxendale knowledge on lost profit.
• Acting for solicitors in a c. £250k claim about the purchase of a property with flawed title.
• Acting for solicitors in a c. £100k costs dispute brought by a disappointed litigant.
• Acting for an IFA in proceedings about the settling of a trust.
• Acting for an architect in a claim alleging defective design.
• Advising on the trust implications of a mistaken insurance payment.

Awards

City University and Lincoln’s Inn

• Eastham scholar (Pupillage award, Lincoln’s Inn, 2015)
• Buchanan Prize (BPTC award, Lincoln’s Inn, 2015)
• Berwin Leighton Paisner Prize for best law-school team, Worshipful Company of Arbitrators arbitration competition, 2015 (representing City University)
• Lord Denning scholar (BPTC scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn, 2014)
• Monckton Prize for EU Law (City University, 2014)
• Winner, University of Southampton IV moot (representing Lincoln’s Inn, 2014)
• Lord Bowen scholar (GDL scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn, 2013)
• Hardwicke scholar (Entrance award, Lincoln’s Inn, 2013)

King’s College London

• Wellcome scholar (full stipendiary PhD scholarship, 2010-13)
• Society for the Social History of Medicine bursary (2012)
• Arts and Humanities Research Council scholar (MA scholarship, 2009-10)

UCL

• Elizabeth Margaret Dale Cast Prize (top overall degree, 2009)
• Dean’s List (2009)
• Professor Joel Hurstfield Prize (top in 2nd year, 2008)
• Dolley Prize (top in 1st year, 2007)

News

• Douglas James successfully defends a jurisdiction challenge by a Part 20 Defendant in a dispute over the ownership of a valuable art collection

Articles

• LADs: Are they always recoverable?
• The Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019

Read more

Qualifications

• 2015 – BPTC – City University – Outstanding
• 2014 – GDL – City University – Distinction
• 2013 – PhD History (Portraits of early-modern patients) – King’s College London
• 2010 – MA Early Modern History – King’s College London – Distinction
• 2009 – BA (Hons) History – University College London – First Class (top in year)

Memberships

• SCL
• TECBAR
• COMBAR