Quadrant Chambers is very pleased to welcome experienced and respected senior junior James Shirley as a new member of chambers. 

“I am delighted to welcome James Shirley to his new home at Quadrant Chambers. He is a fantastic addition to our team, specialising in a number of our core areas including shipping and international trade, which remain at the heart of Quadrant Chambers. James will already be familiar to a number of our clients, and I look forward to seeing him flourish here at Quadrant.” Poonam Melwani KC, Head of Quadrant Chambers. 

"I’m thrilled to be joining Poonam and my new colleagues at Quadrant. I have no doubt that my practice will thrive in the hands of the clerking and marketing teams led by Simon Slattery and Sarah Longden. On a personal note, Quadrant’s strong commitment to social mobility makes it a perfect place for me to contribute to making the bar accessible."  James Shirley

James is an experienced trial advocate, equally comfortable appearing in person or remotely, whether in English courts and tribunals or those abroad. He practises in all areas of commercial law, in particular fraud cases, wet and dry shipping and international arbitration, jurisdictional disputes, the sale and carriage of goods, and insurance. Recent cases include the Court of Appeal decision in MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1406; [2022] EWHC 467 (Comm) (construction of a force majeure clause and its application to sanctions that hindered payments of freight in US dollars) and Supreme Court case Nautical Challenge Ltd v Evergreen Marine (UK) Limited (Collision case, crossing rule, apportionment). He is ranked as a leading junior by both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500, where he is described as ‘Perceptive, strategic and unflappable under pressure. His advocacy is first class and the easy manner he adopts in making submissions finds favour with arbitrators and judges alike.’ (Legal 500 2023). 
 

Quadrant Chambers holds a pre-eminent position as one of the leading international commercial disputes sets. We are market leaders with a reputation for excellence in our main areas of focus: aviation, banking, commercial disputes, commodities, energy, insurance, international arbitration and shipping.