James Wood > Denis Chang’s Chambers > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Lawyer Profile

James is an experienced litigator whose legal career in Hong Kong spans more than two decades. His association with Denis Chang’s Chambers goes back to 1993, when he served as a summer pupil in the chambers.

James is recommended in both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. His professional accolades as a litigator include the following:

“James is excellent both on paper and in court. He has extensive experience and operates at silk level.” – Legal 500, Commercial Disputes (2023)
“The ‘superb’ and ‘very clever’ James Wood’” – Legal 500 (2018)
“A well reputed litigator, he advises clients on a variety of multi-jurisdictional restructuring and insolvency proceedings” – Chambers and Partners (2019)
“James Wood is praised by commentators as a good operator who does some good work, which he is passionate about” – Chambers and Partners (2019)
James is a former partner of Lipman Karas, a law firm that is acclaimed for its “litigation strength, with one saying: ‘They’re the firm that drives the development of Hong Kong cross-border insolvency case law’ and ‘quite renowned’ for handling insolvency litigation, having ‘quite a slick operation’.” – Chambers and Partners (2019)
“Specialist litigation firm … where James Wood and Jason Karas are key names” – Legal 500 (2017)
“Lipman Karas is a leader in insolvency work where James Wood is excellent” – Legal 500 (2015)
“Peers are keen to praise James Wood’s expertise … describing him as ‘very smart’, while another source comments: ‘He’s an academic guy, I like him a lot, he’s very hard-working’.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific (2016)
“James Wood is very competent and a worthy candidate as a leading individual …. noted for his contentious and non-contentious regulatory work as well as his growing reputation in restructuring and insolvency matters. Sources praise his in-house experience with a global investment bank…” – Chambers Asia-Pacific (2012)

James’s pupillage was reduced to the statutory minimum of three months, which he completed with Mr Russell Coleman SC, immediately prior to his Lordships’s appointment as a Judge of the High Court. James was most recently a Solicitor Advocate and Partner at Lipman Karas for seven years between 2012 and 2018 before transferring to the Hong Kong Bar. Prior to joining Lipman Karas, he practised as a financial services and disputes lawyer with Freshfields, Goldman Sachs and O’Melveny & Myers, where he acted on some of the best-known insolvencies and restructurings arising out of the global financial crisis.

His cases are often substantial and multi-jurisdictional in nature, involving legal proceedings in forums around the world, including in Australia, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Canada, the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, England, Indonesia, Mauritius, the PRC, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States.