James McDermott

James is a senior associate in Ogier's Irish and BVI Dispute Resolution teams. James acts for clients in a broad range of complex corporate, crypto-asset, financial services, and shareholder disputes, as well as contentious cross-border insolvency matters. He also has experience advising and representing clients in relation to contentious regulatory investigations, internal investigations, fraud, corruption and corporate crime matters.

Background and experience

Before joining Ogier's BVI office in 2020, James practiced in the dispute resolution departments of two of Ireland's premier commercial law firms.

As part of Ogier's BVI team, James advised and represented clients in a broad range of financial services, commercial and complex investor and shareholder disputes, with a focus on asset tracing, injunctive relief and fraud claims, particularly in the crypto asset space.

James moved to Ogier's Irish office in 2023, where he specialises in fraud and financial crime matters, crypto disputes, financial services disputes, contentious regulatory investigations, asset recovery and shareholder disputes.

Examples of matters on which James has worked since joining Ogier include:

• Acting for the successful claimant in IsZo Capital LP v Nam Tai Property Inc in proceedings that resulted in the declaration of a private placement of shares in an NYSE listed company to be void as carried out for an improper purpose after an expedited trial, upheld on an expedited appeal.
• Advising Teneo, the joint liquidators of Three Arrows Capital Limited (formerly the world’s largest cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds), on a range of matters following their appointment by the BVI Court.
• Advising EY in their role as provisional liquidators of Unigroup International Holdings Ltd. and Tsinghua Unigroup International Co. Ltd (BVI subsidiaries of a Chinese technology and semiconductor manufacturer), in a contentious insolvency involving debts in excess of $1Bn.
• Acting for the defendants in a complex shareholder dispute on behalf directors of a PRC company in relation to the alleged under-sale of a pharmaceutical IP;
• Acting for the successful claimant bank in the enforcement of a $30M foreign judgment against a judgment debtor (following a 3-day trial and three interlocutory appeals)
• Acting for the successful respondent in discharging an injunction obtained to restrain the privatisation of NASDAQ-listed BVI Company
• Acting for an alleged shareholder in proceedings against the joint liquidators of a multinational corporation valued at $40M, seeking removal from the register of members.

During his time in the BVI, James was an active member of the local legal community and held the office of Treasurer of the BVI Bar Association Council in 2022/23.

James received his Bachelor of Laws from Trinity College Dublin in 2013. He also holds an Advanced Diploma in Corporate, White–Collar and Regulatory Crime from Kings Inns and has recently completed a Master of Laws from the University of London, specialising in Economic Regulation and Financial Crime.

Memberships:

• INSOL
• RISA
• BVI Bar Association

Admitted in:

2017 - Ireland

2018 - England and Wales (non practising)

2020 - British Virgin Islands