“James Sutherland is a market leader. A master tactician, he thinks deeply about his clients' issues, their commercial and legal context, and uses his experience to provide the right advice.”
Legal 500 UK, 2024
About
James heads our Real Estate Dispute Resolution team, and is a partner in the firm’s Dispute Resolution department. He is a highly experienced and leading industry figure in landlord and tenant, real property and property insolvency disputes.
He has many years of expertise advising institutional and commercial landlords and occupiers, government and public bodies and high net worth individuals in relation to commercial landlord/tenant disputes (including large-scale rent reviews and business tenancy renewals), real property disputes, portfolio and high-complexity residential disputes, property related insolvency and professional negligence. He is recognised as a national leader in commercial Rent Reviews and Building Safety Act 2022 claims.
James is qualified to practise law in England and Wales. He is the co-lead of the firm’s Tenant and Corporate Occupiers team and also a leading partner in the firm’s Contentious Insolvency team.
He is listed as a Leading Partner for Property Litigation in the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories, and frequently presents lectures, writes articles and provides training to clients on new and developing areas of landlord and tenant and real property law. He jointly presented the 49th Annual Blundell Series Lecture “When Nature Strikes – Property Law and Natural Disasters”.
Experience
- Global Investment Bank: Advising for many years in relation to asset management issues across the client’s UK office portfolio including decant into new central London HQ and multiple rent reviews, landlord and tenant and dilapidations claims.
- Leading UK Communication and Retail Business: Advising this UK-wide operator in relation to all asset management issues across its portfolio of 11,000 properties, providing strategic advice and leading the team which manages its property operations.
- St James’s Place: Advising one of UK’s oldest and largest Wealth Managers (FTSE 100 listed) on all asset management issues, including disputes, arising from its UK-wide property portfolio.
- The Crown Estate: Advising the Crown Estate for many years on a variety of contentious property issues affecting its Central London, Traditional, Rural and Windsor Portfolios. He is also a leading expert in the law of Escheat Property.
- Building Safety and Defective Cladding: James is one of the UK’s leading practitioners in relation to liability and claims under the BSA 2022. He advises the government on enforcement claims and frequently acts for landlords and occupiers.
- Leading National Developer: James advises one of the largest UK housebuilders on strategic issues and large-scale disputes relating to the remediation of large residential developments and related claims under the Building Safety Act 2022.
Credentials
- Admitted as a solicitor: England & Wales (2005)
Areas of expertise
Sector focus
Latest thinking from James
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