• Law of obligations (contract and tort)
• Equity and trusts
• Comparative private law
• Japanese law and society
• Law and the humanities

James joined the ANU College of Law in 2022 from Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan) where he had been an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law since 2020. Before this he was a Project Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law and Graduate Schools for Law & Politics. He has also held visiting academic positions at Meiji and Waseda Universities in Tokyo. James read English and European Law at the University of Oxford (St Catherine's College) and completed a PhD thesis in the comparative law of trusts at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. His work in English private law has appeared in leading general and specialist publications such as the Modern Law Review, Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly and Modern Studies in Property Law. His work on Japanese law is featured in Public Law and the Journal of Japanese Law. In addition to doctrinal scholarship James maintains a secondary research profile in law and the humanities, with a focus on contemporary Japanese culture. He is the co-author of Japanese Law and Literature (Routledge, forthcoming 2023). James is the ANU College of Law's Director of Moots and Competitions, Program Co-Convenor (Teaching and Learning) for the Australian Network for Japanese Law, and coach of the Australian national team for the annual Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition in Tokyo.