Admitted to Bar: 1996

Appointed Senior Counsel: 2009

Floor Member Since: 1997

James Lockhart is an experienced commercial silk, representing a broad range of clients in trials and appeals. James is recognised as a leading commercial silk in:

• Chambers & Partners 2025 (Asia-Pacific and Global) barrister rankings for Dispute Resolution

• Best Lawyers Australia 2025 list published by the Australian Financial Review in the Commercial Law, Litigation, and Class Action Litigation categories

• Legal 500 as a leading silk in commercial disputes.

James regularly appears for banks, insurance companies, liquidators, superannuation trustees, and major multinationals. His clients past and present include Qantas, Uber, KPMG, Westpac, ANZ, Ramsay Health Care, Hancock Prospecting, Deloitte, REST Super, Allianz, AON and liquidators (e.g. Bell Group, HIH group and Babcock & Brown).

Practice areas: commercial disputes; competition and regulatory; corporations (including schemes of arrangement); class actions; insolvency; professional liability; arbitrations; and property and equity disputes.

Notable recent and current matters include:

• representing Uber in a test case concerning payroll tax on technology intermediaries in the “gig economy”. Uber Australia Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2024] NSWSC 1124;
• representing the liquidator of merchant bank Babcock & Brown in defending claims brought by shareholders for breaches of the continuous disclosure obligations under the Corporations Act and ASX listing rules. Eg. Pain v BBL [2024] FCA 1338; Masters v Babcock & Brown Ltd v BBL [2024] FCA 1336; [2021] FCAFC 161;
• representing Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd in an arbitration concerning beneficial ownership of valuable mining assets. Rinehart & Anor v Hancock Prospecting & Ors (2023 – ongoing);
• represented a national tertiary institution in test case proceedings concerning whether its lecturers are employees or contractors and associated superannuation issues. JMC Pty Ltd v Cmmr of Taxation [2023] FCAFC 95; [2022] FCA 750;
• represented liquidators in proceedings concerning the methodology of distribution of the remaining assets of a Ponzi scheme: ASIC v Marco & AMS Holdings (WA) Pty Limited (in liq) [2023] FCA 83];
• represented James Hardie in proceedings for judicial advice concerning the terms of a scheme established to compensate asbestos victims: WorkCover Queensland v Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund Ltd [2024] NSWCA 317, and [2024] NSWSC 1163.