James Freeman

James is a Partner in the International Arbitration Group at A&O Shearman and head of the practice in London. He has conducted arbitrations under all the major sets of arbitral rules and at various seats. He is a Solicitor Advocate and routinely appears as an advocate in his cases. Legal 500 has described him as an “excellent advocate” and Chambers calls him a “class act”. He sits on the Board of the LCIA. He was recently invited by the UK Parliament to advise it on proposed reforms to the UK Arbitration Act. He is counsel to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association on the market standard arbitration clauses in its ISDA Arbitration Guide. He has substantial experience across a range of sectors, including trading, commodities, banking, energy, private capital and telecoms. He has notable recent experience of sanctions-related cases.

James has been ranked for nearly a decade in Chambers, Legal 500 and Lexology Index UK (where he is a “Thought Leader”) for arbitration.