James Pickering

James is recommended by the legal directories as a specialist in claims for serious injuries, fatal accidents, and industrial diseases.

He acts for both claimants and defendants in claims for injuries of the utmost severity, including brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and pain disorders. He acts in the most cutting-edge and high profile litigation, often with a cross-border element.

Recent examples of his cases (led and unled) include:

For claimants:

• Representing thousands of soldiers in claims for military hearing loss and cold injuries in the Military Deafness Litigation and the Military Cold Injuries Litigation.
• Representing clients with severe brain and spinal injuries suffered in an overseas road traffic accident: settled for £2.25 million.
• Representing a client with serious psychological injuries following an accident at an overseas work event: settled for a global sum over £2 million.

For defendants:

• Representing the Rugby Football League and the British Amateur Rugby League Association in their defence of the Rugby Concussion Litigation.
• Defending a severe brain and orthopaedic injuries claim involving lifelong care pleaded at £35.25 million: settled for £10.25 million.
• Defending a severe brain injury claim involving lifelong care pleaded at £12.5 million: settled for £8.5 million.

He is a robust trial advocate with a strong counter-fraud specialism in his defendant practice. He is regularly instructed by motor insurance companies and the MIB to defend claims arising from road traffic accidents and he has expertise in associated indemnity issues.

He also represents bereaved families and interested parties in all types of inquest, where his work complements his specialism in fatal accidents litigation. He is committed to pro bono representation and accepts instructions on this basis where appropriate.

James is an industrial disease litigation specialist and the legal directories recommend him as a leading industrial disease lawyer. According to the legal directories: “He is truly an encyclopedia of knowledge. He is across law, fact and history.”

James is instructed in some of the most high profile industrial disease litigation before the English courts. He represents thousands of serving and ex-members of HM Armed Forces in claims for military hearing loss and cold injuries in the Military Deafness Litigation and the Military Cold Injuries Litigation.

He frequently represents bereaved or terminally ill clients in asbestos disease claims and he is recognised by the directories for his warmth and approachability in these sensitive cases. He finds a path through the most legally and factually complex of cases to get the right outcome for his clients: “He has a really good brain for legal research and wading through complex provisions which exist in this area.”

His expertise and depth of knowledge are reflected by the fact that he edits the two leading practitioner textbooks in this area of the law: Occupational Illness Litigation (Sweet & Maxwell) and Asbestos: Law & Litigation (Sweet & Maxwell).

James leads 12KBW’s Band 1-ranked International & Travel Team. He is recommended in the directories as a “really excellent” cross-border lawyer who “gives excellent advice, delivered with an attention to detail and a reassuring, calming demeanour.”

He has expertise in all of the complex legal issues that arise in international claims and regularly advises clients on service of process and the conflict of laws. His solicitors value him for his ability to provide pragmatic cross-border advice in the most difficult and sensitive of claims, such as to bereaved families in the aftermath of the tragic 2018 Leicester City Helicopter Crash.

He frequently acts for tour operators, airlines, cruise ship operators, and foreign insurance companies. He has successfully represented catastrophically injured clients in cases arising out of overseas road traffic, skiing, and workplace accidents. Much of his group litigation practice involves international elements and he enjoys working as part of a team.

He is regularly invited to speak on cross-border legal issues at conferences, such as those organised by APIL and the Pan-European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers. He is the editor of Butterworths Personal Injury Litigation Service (Accidents Abroad).

James acts for claimants and defendants in a wide range of pure insurance disputes, including travel insurance, private health insurance, and motor insurance. He is regularly instructed by motor insurers to advise on policy and coverage disputes. He cuts through the complex legal issues raised in these cases to deliver pragmatic advice meeting the commercial needs of his clients.

James has particular expertise in motor insurer status and policy construction. He advises in relation to the Road Traffic Act 1988, Article 75 of the MIB’s Articles of Association, and the Uninsured Drivers Agreement and Untraced Drivers Agreement. He has extensive experience of coverage disputes relating to vehicle use. His solicitors in this area value his cross-over expertise in litigation relating to personal injuries and overseas travel.

BCL (Distinction), Exeter College, University of Oxford
BPTC, City, University of London
BA Jurisprudence, Saint Peter’s College, University of Oxford

Inner Temple Pegasus Scholarship
London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association Essay Prize
Law Faculty Prize for Criminal Justice and Human Rights
Ralph Chiles Award for Comparative Human Rights
Middle Temple Colombos Law Prize
Exeter College Tobias Prize in Law
Times Law Awards, 2^nd Prize
Oxford Postgraduate Internship Award
Exeter College Internship Grant
Saint Peter’s College Law Essay Prize

Personal Injuries Bar Association

Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers

London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association

Occupational Illness Litigation (Sweet & Maxwell) (Editor)

Asbestos: Law & Litigation (Sweet & Maxwell) (Co-Editor)

Butterworths Personal Injury Litigation Service (Accidents Abroad) (LexisNexis UK) (Editor)

‘Asbestos Product Litigation’, Journal of Personal Injury Law (2021, 1, pp. 17-24)

James is a super junior with a massive future. He is incredibly bright, meticulous and approachable. – Chambers & Partners, 2025.

James is really excellent – a technical and effective advocate.  – Chambers & Partners, 2025.

He gives excellent advice, delivered with an attention to detail and a reassuring, calming demeanour. – Chambers & Partners, 2025.

Quietly understated due to his modesty, James nonetheless possesses a towering intellect and is able to master the law in a wide range of areas from international law to English procedural law before deploying it with lethal effect. – Legal 500, 2025.

James is razor-sharp and super responsive. – Legal 500, 2024.

He is truly an encyclopedia of knowledge. He is across law, fact and history. – Chambers & Partners, 2024.

James is pragmatic and meticulous, and always on hand in the most difficult of cases. His presence at your side is a reassuring one. – Chambers & Partners, 2024.

James is an excellent barrister. – Chambers & Partners, 2023.

James has a brilliantly analytical yet creative legal intellect which he brings to bear in the most legally challenging of claims, with jurisdictional issues being a particular forte of his. – Legal 500, 2022.