Carey Olsen Singapore LLP's team advises on the laws of Bermuda, the BVI, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands. The firm’s offering covers corporate, funds, litigation, and trusts and private wealth-related matters. The corporate practice is led by Anthony McKenzie, who handles M&A and financing transactions. The funds team is headed by Tom Katsaros who focuses on the establishment of private equity and hedge funds. The disputes practice is led by James Noble who handles complex multi-jurisdictional litigation and asset recovery. The litigation team also includes Helen Wang, who focuses on shareholder disputes involving Chinese clients, and is further supported by Kate Lan and Amelia Tan, who are active in commercial and insolvency litigation.
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Profile
Work Department
Dispute Resolution & Litigation; Restructuring & Insolvency
Position
Based in our Tier 1 ranked (Legal 500) Singapore office, James Noble TEP leads the litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice in Asia and the largest 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 profile multi-jurisdictional litigation, asset recovery, cross-border enforcement and insolvency, James has over 20 years' experience working in a wide variety of commercial disputes, many of which involve multi-billion dollar claims.
James regularly acts in 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. He is often instructed to give expert evidence on Cayman or BVI law in onshore proceedings before the Singapore and Hong Kong Courts.
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 Partner for the Offshore category in Singapore and the Caribbean by The Legal 500. He has also been named in the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Offshore Client Choice List and as one of the Top Offshore Litigators in Asia in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. In addition, James was recognised in the Top 50 Offshore Lawyers 2022 and 2024 by Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) as part of the publication's prestigious annual A-List series. James was also named as an expert in asset recovery by Who's Who Legal in its 2023 Southeast Asia guide. He was most recently recognised amongst premier online business news platform Business Today's Top 10 Influential Offshore Dispute Resolution Lawyers of Asia-Pacific for 2023.
James' expertise and insights are regularly sought after by the industry. He is frequently invited to speak at conferences and panel discussions and was part of the Main Organising Committee of INSOL San Diego. James is also the author of the 2023 textbook, "Commercial Litigation and Enforcement", published by The Global Legal Post.
Clients describe James as "quite simply the best of the best. James possesses that rare combination in a team leader of great legal insight, great leadership skills and a frightening eye for detail." He is also noted 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."
Memberships
James is a Fellow of INSOL International. He is also a registered foreign lawyer with the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC). He is an active contributor to the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) and one of the first offshore law practitioners to be approved as a member of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore (IPAS). He is also a full TEP member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Helen Wang is very well-known in Greater China. She works extremely hard and understands the needs of Chinese clients very well. Not to mention her language skills which put her in a very unique position in terms of offshore counsels in the region.' 'I have worked with Partners James Noble and Helen Wang, as well as Counsel Amelia Tan, and have had a great experience working with all of them. Amelia is highly dependable, hardworking and meticulous, a very reliable pair of hands that I would love to have on every matter involving an offshore aspect.' 'Anthony McKenzie is a lawyer who cares about his clients. He is willing to fight for the right outcomes and he has been readily available to help us post transaction when we have needed him. His knowledge of BVI structuring and critical corporate law matters is the best I have come across in my 20+ years of dealmaking.' 'James Noble is one of the great rainmakers of the Singapore offshore legal market: seemingly effortlessly, he attracts all the most complex, interesting and high-profile offshore dispute cases that come through Singapore, usually coming before the BVI Commercial Court or Cayman Grand Court, and the Court of Appeal in both jurisdictions.' 'James Noble's strengths include a clearsighted sense of the big picture and the client's commercial objectives but at the same time an eagle eye for detail.' 'Helen Wang is an exceptionally pragmatic partner who consistently provides constructive and practical advice. She is able to directly identify the core issues and, at times, offers innovative legal strategies that go beyond conventional approaches. Her diligence and responsiveness are outstanding, making her a highly valued member of the team.' 'The team always provide an outstanding legal services and resolve client's concerns with a professional knowledge.' 'Carey Olsen is to my mind the preeminent and strongest bench offshore disputes practice in Singapore. They have invested heavily in their disputes practice in Singapore and the market recognises this. For complex matters, we would send people Carey Olsen's way.' 'The team always provide an outstanding legal services and resolve client's concern with a professional knowledge.' 'The team is committed to accessibility by clients by replying to queries promptly and managing turnaround time to suit the client's needs. They are able to provide a general overview of the market practice on certain investment terms based on the available data from their past reviews, allowing clients to have the necessary information prior to negotiations.' 'They are flexible on fees and more reasonable than other major Cayman law firms. Their advice is timely and flexible. They are also not maniacal about billing you monthly.' 'Carey Olsen’s Helen Wang is highly responsive, technically precise and very commercial and practical.' 'We are very satisfied with the services provided to CO team (Helen Wang). The team is highly responsive and consistently offers practical and effective dispute resolution strategies that thoroughly prioritize the client’s best interests. Moreover, throughout the process, they demonstrate excellent collaboration with other counsels, making them a trustworthy and reliable partner.' 'Carey Olsen Singapore retains its position as the best offshore team in Singapore, led by James Noble and supported by a very strong group of lawyers with a diverse range of skills and experience.' 'The Carey Olsen team I dealt with, lead by Anthony McKenzie, were second to none in terms of knowledge, speed of service and ability to drive the right outcomes for us as their clients. They assisted us with BVI matters in relation to a merger transaction, including negotiation of transaction documents. The protections built in for us as a minority shareholder post-merger have already proved to have real life benefits. Things that most lawyers would have missed or glossed over have proven to be critical for protecting our minority positions. We were also very happy with billing transparency and value.' 'Carey Olsen runs a lean team, but everyone on it is effective, responsive, and very intelligent. I enjoy working with them and they are my first choice when it comes to any matters involving an offshore elements. They are highly experienced in the laws of multiple offshore jurisdictions and their recommendations always make commercial and strategic sense.'
Key clients
- GCL Global Limited NIP Group Inc
Work highlights
Acted as Cayman Islands Counsel in relation to GCL Global Limited's (or GCL group) $1.2bn business combination with RF Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company.
Acted for 1 of 54 defendants, in BVI proceedings brought by JSC BTA Bank, one of Kazakhstan's largest banks, involving claims of, among others, conspiracy, unjust enrichment, dishonest assistance, and equitable compensation for over $231m.
Advised NIP Group Inc on the Cayman law aspect of its $20.25m IPO on Nasdaq, supporting the first esport stock from China.