Mourant Chairman Ian James named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100

18/01/2005

Mourant Chairman Ian James has been listed in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 for 2005.

The Hot 100 identifies members of the legal profession who have excelled in their chosen fields during the past year. The 2005 edition features a cross-section of in-house and private practice lawyers who have been recognised for individual or team achievement.

’Every person in the Hot 100 is picked because of his or her talent,’ says The Lawyer magazine in ’Today’s leaders, tomorrow’s legends’, its celebration of Britain’s best. ’Because we write about the legal profession every week of the year, The Lawyer has unparalleled insight into who is making things happen.’

Ian’s accolade follows last year’s naming of Mourant du Feu & Jeune as Offshore Law Firm of the Year, also by The Lawyer.

Featured in the Hot 100 Management section, Ian is ranked alongside some of the biggest names from some of the largest and most successful firms in the industry.

It’s not the first time Ian’s skills have been recognised - this year’s Chambers legal directory calls him a ’legend in his field’ who has retained market approval for a wide range of expertise, including securities and innovative financial products.

The Lawyer credits Ian for putting Mourant du Feu & Jeune firmly at the forefront of a period of considerable change in the offshore legal community as it adapts to the rapidly shifting marketplace ’by bidding to make the Channel Islands firm a leader of the new breed of offshore practice’.

The citation recognises the achievement of the incorporation of Mourant Limited as an employee-owned company, and the establishment of Mourant du Feu & Jeune’s Cayman practice.

This accolade for Ian also follows his successful contribution to what commentators have described as Mahonia Limited’s ’stunning and complete’ victory in the High Court in London in August last year, in a case that attracted international attention as a test of the proper use of special purpose vehicles in structured finance transactions. The result was a judgment that recognised Mourant’s high professional standards and further enhanced Ian’s personal reputation.

Commenting on his listing in the Hot 100, Ian said: ’I’m delighted that The Lawyer magazine should include me amongst such a successful group of lawyers but I get far greater personal satisfaction from reflecting upon the fact that this is really a recognition of the collective contribution that everyone at Mourant has made in keeping us at the forefront of the legal world.’