James Crabtree

James Crabtree is a Visiting Fellow and lectures on our Postgraduate programmes, covering major issues affecting insurance and reinsurance contracts and the role of insurance in corporate finance transactions. 

He graduated from Reading University's School of Law in 1983 and qualified as both a barrister and a solicitor. He currently practises law as a solicitor at Keystone Law.

He is recognised by the legal directories as an "outstanding" and “eminent practitioner” in insurance and reinsurance law, "renowned for his expertise". He has been described as an “absolute expert in his field”, who is “scrupulous with respect to detail”, “familiar with the intricacies of the field", and a "very deliberating lawyer, who is calm under pressure".

He is a co-author of International Sale of Goods (Croner Publications) and of the New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition (LexisNexis).

He has practised as a solicitor since 1988 and has advised numerous major companies placing and underwriting risk in the worldwide insurance and reinsurance markets on insurance and reinsurance claims, contractual coverage questions and disputes, and on the contractual terms and conditions of many varieties of insurance and reinsurance cover. He has provided advice on claims and coverage issues of many different kinds, arising in many different contexts and parts of the world: e.g. marine, offshore energy, construction and engineering, mining, political risk, lending risk, long tail liability, professional liability, property damage and business interruption. He has also advised banks and other corporate entities on insurance policy coverage and related matters. Early in his career, he was seconded to a major US bank. 

James has handled numerous disputes resolved by arbitration or by court proceedings and has been involved in proceedings before the Commercial Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords (now the Supreme Court), as well as engaged in disputes entailing proceedings in other jurisdictions.

He has lectured extensively on insurance and reinsurance law in London and in many different parts of the world, including major cities in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and the Far East. He has also written numerous articles which have appeared in both legal and insurance industry publications.