James Noble > Carey Olsen Singapore LLP > Singapore, Singapore > Lawyer Profile

Carey Olsen Singapore LLP
10 Collyer Quay #29-10
Ocean Financial Centre
Singapore 049315
Singapore

Work Department

Dispute Resolution & Litigation; Restructuring & Insolvency

Position

Based in our Tier 1 ranked (Legal 500) Singapore office, James Noble leads the litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice in Asia and the largest, most diverse offshore litigation team in Singapore. James advises on Cayman, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Bermuda law, and is the only Cayman and BVI admitted (and Bermuda registered) litigator in Singapore.

A specialist in complex and high value shareholder litigation, asset recovery, cross-border enforcement and insolvency, James has over 20 years’ experience working in a wide variety of commercial, trust and estate disputes and private wealth matters. He regularly acts in high profile and market leading cases, particularly in connection with listed companies, and has specialist expertise in appellate matters in both the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council.

James is frequently recognised as one of the outstanding offshore litigators in Asia by market leading legal directories and publications. In particular, he is ranked consistently by Chambers Asia and is listed as a Leading Individual for the Offshore category in Singapore in The Legal 500 Asia 2023 Guide. He has also been named in the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Offshore Client Choice List and as one of the Top 15 Offshore Litigators in Asia in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In addition, James was recognised in the Top 50 Offshore Lawyers 2022 by Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) as part of the publication’s prestigious annual A-List series. Earlier this year, James was named as an expert in asset recovery by Who’s Who Legal in its Southeast Asia guide.

James is an active contributor of thought leadership pieces, and is most recently a co-author of a textbook published by The Global Legal Post on “Commercial Litigation and Enforcement”.

Clients describe James as “an outstanding team leader, able to integrate a high-level awareness of his clients’ commercial objectives with an uncanny oversight of what the most junior associate, or busiest London silk, is doing to deliver the results needed for a positive outcome. Always calm in a tough and highly competitive environment.” He is also noted as “a great lawyer, with a very sensible approach to litigation matters” and “whom clients respond really well to”.

James is a registered foreign lawyer with the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC). He is a member of the Main Organising Committee of INSOL and is an active contributor to the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). He is also one of the first offshore law practitioners to be approved as a member of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore (IPAS).

Memberships

James is a James is a registered foreign lawyer with the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC). He is a member of the Main Organising Committee of INSOL and is an active contributor to the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). He is also one of the first offshore law practitioners to be approved as a member of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore (IPAS).

Lawyer Rankings

Singapore > Offshore

(Leading Individuals)

James Noble  – Carey Olsen Singapore LLP

Carey Olsen Singapore LLP maintains a dominating presence in Singapore’s offshore legal market, consistently demonstrating its full service capabilities when providing the complete range of services including banking and finance, funds, corporate, private wealth, insolvency, trusts and dispute resolution. Leading on the transactional side is Anthony McKenzie, bringing extensive experience in offshore corporate, investment funds and finance transactions, as well as being admitted to practice in the Cayman Islands, BVI and Bermuda. James Noble leads the contentious offering and is a specialist in complex and high-value shareholder litigation, asset-recovery, cross-border enforcement and insolvency. Tom Kastaros’ practice focuses primarily on the establishment, structuring and maintenance of offshore PE and hedge funds, while Helen Wang, who was promoted to partner in January 2023, has a wealth of experience advising clients on cross-border litigation across the banking and financial services, energy and resources, and insurance sectors. Counsel’s Kate Lan, Amelia Tan and Rebecca Lee are key members, with the former well-versed in complex shareholder, insolvency and company law related disputes; and the latter, highly sought after by top corporates, holding companies and family offices.

Foreign-based expertise > Leading firms

Overview

Leveraging the expertise throughout its UK and Asia offices, Carey Olsen’s ‘incredibly responsive and effective’ global Caribbean-focused practice draws on ‘deep reservoirs of expertise and experience’ to field ‘the A-Team of all offshore practices operating today’. The firm’s team is spread across its London, Hong Kong and Singapore offices, covering Bermuda, BVI and Cayman law with particular experience in corporate, finance, funds and insolvency work, and litigation.

For more information on specific regions, please click on the tabs below.

Acting for ‘a stellar array of clients drawn from across the Asia Pacific region and beyond, which underscores the firm’s status as the best of the best’, Carey Olsen Hong Kong LLP utilises the expertise of managing partner Michael Padarin as a go-to name for fund issues, including the formation, operation and restructuring of funds, particularly those with Cayman law elements. Jeremy Lightfoot leads the litigation practice in Hong Kong and is praised as ‘an outstanding litigation lawyer and an impressive critical thinker’; the litigation team was further bolstered in mid-2023 with the recruitments of Tim Haynes and Matthew Watson, who focus on Cayman and Bermuda issues, respectively. In Carey Olsen Singapore LLP, managing partner Anthony McKenzie also leads the corporate practice, while James Noble, who is praised as ‘quite simply the best of the best’, heads up the litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice. Tom Katsaros is the primary contact in the jurisdiction for investment fund work, and litigator Helen Wang is singled out as ‘very experienced with great cross-jurisdictional knowledge and analysis’.
Key names in Carey Olsen LLP’s London office include managing partner Jasmine Amaria, who focuses on corporate, fund and finance work with a Cayman or BVI aspect, acting for clients in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Richard Brown is singled out by clients as ‘superb as a lawyer, as a litigator and as a strategist’, and provides ‘a seamless service that is second to none’; he is the primary contact for dispute resolution advice and insolvency issues involving BVI law and was further admitted as a registered associate of the Bermuda Bar in 2023. Counsel Sheba Raza is also a key name to note and ‘always feels part of the team she is working with’.