A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and with vast experience of arbitration as counsel, James accepts appointments as arbitrator in a range of international commercial disputes, including those where the language of the reference is German or Dutch.

James is on the SIAC, SCMA, HKIAC, APIAC, SHIAC, AIAC, NAI (Dutch arbitration institute) and UNUM arbitration panels.  He is currently working on an IBA Taskforce to update the IBA Guidelines on Party Representation. In June 2025, he was elected to the Executive Board of the Dutch Arbitration Association.

He was the first non-Dutch arbitrator on the UNUM list. Formerly TAMARA, UNUM Transport & Mediation is the leading Dutch maritime dispute resolution service. The NAI is the leading (and only non-specialist) Dutch arbitration institute. 

His experience as arbitrator over the last 25 years includes ICC, LCIA, HKIAC, LMAA, NAI (Dutch Arbitration Institute), UNUM and ad hoc references. His recent (2020-date) and current appointments include:

• Chair of an LCIA arbitration arising out of a cattle export contract from Spain to Turkey
• Sole arbitrator in an LCIA dispute regarding an offshore surveying contract (proceeded to an interim final award which disposed of two thirds of the claim before settling)
• Party-appointed arbitrator in an ICC reference concerning a ship repair contract (proceeded to an award)
• Party-appointed arbitrator in an NAI arbitration regarding an offshore construction dispute, with Dutch curial and substantive law
• Chair of an LCIA reference (appointed by the party-appointed arbitrators) arising out of a hotel management contract, with Dutch substantive and English curial law (settled during the main hearing following several interlocutory rulings, principally on disclosure)
• Chair of an LCIA reference arising out of coal-supply contracts and giving rise to issue of Swiss procedural law (proceeded to substantive and costs awards)
• Party-appointed arbitrator in multiple LMAA references, including charterparty, ship sale and collision disputes
• Sole arbitrator appointed by the parties in an expedited ICC reference arising out of a sales contract, in which both the contract and the arbitration were governed by Polish law. Involved application of the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods. Proceeded to an award within the timetable set by the ICC Rule
• Co-arbitrator appointed by UNUM in ship-sale dispute, with English substantive and Dutch curial law (has so far proceeded to one award)
• Party-appointed arbitrator in an HKIAC reference arising out of a ship conversion contract. Proceeded to an award in June 2024
• Party-appointed arbitrator in an UNUM reference, relating to guarantee claims under a super-yacht construction contract, with Dutch substantive and curial law. Proceeded to a first award in February 2025
• Party-appointed arbitrator in two related LCIA references concerning oil supply contracts, both of which proceeded to awards in 2024
• Chair in an ICC reference arising out of a charterparty dispute. Proceeded to an award in January 2025
• Sole arbitrator in a SUPPLYTIME charterparty dispute under LMAA Terms. Has so far proceeded to an award on preliminary issues in April 2025
• Chair of an LCIA reference arising out of a share pledge agreement governed by Cyprus law.
• Chair of a Dutch language arbitration with maritime subject matter.
• Party-appointed arbitrator in an LMAA claim for unpaid hire.