James has advised and appeared on matters pertaining to employment contacts, unfair dismissal including AIRC proceedings, employee/independent contractor issues, restraints of trade, confidential information, redundancy entitlements, sexual harassment, and discrimination and in particular breach of employee duties in the area. In particular, the Supreme Court matters of Eurovox v Miller (alleged theft of company assets) and Austral v Contebardo (alleged theft of clients and company intellectual property).

He now has particular expertise in sham contracting having prosecuted appeals  on that subject in the Full Federal Court and the High Court of Australia (see recent cases Linkhill)

He frequently advises on termination and redundancy and also rights and duties of employees post-employment with respect to confidential information, trade secrets competition with the previous employer and poaching or previous employer staff.

He has appeared to the mediation stage of several Unfair Dismissal cases.

Current and recent matters include:

• Mr Moein Abbasi v Deluxe Interiors Oz Pty Ltd, Hoang (Danny) Lam [2023] FWC 2283 attempted jurisdictional objection

• NUW V Tailored Workforce Pty Ltd B2018/1018
  James opposed an application for a majority support determination by the National Union of Workers in the Fair Work Commission. The matter ran as a contest with witnesses. The NUW withdrew the application before judgment.

• Eid v Islamic Society Of Victoria Inc

• Sex discrimination case before Mortimer J in the Federal Court – resolved before trial

• Heraud v Roy Morgan Research Ltd [2016] FCCA 185 (5 February 2016)

• See his successful strike out application on the grounds that the Applicant was not in fact dismissed here: Zosel v The Trustee for The Grace Freeman Nelson Trust [2016] FWC 5183 (1 August 2016)
  

INDUSTRIAL LAW – whether Respondent contravened s.340 and s.351 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“the Act”) – seven contraventions pleaded.

He has current matters in the Fair Work Commission and Federal Court where relief is sought under the Fair Work Act.

James is Chairman of Blueprint for Free Speech a small not-for-profit research organisation which does research on international whistleblower and freedom of expression legal frameworks and creates best practice benchmark legislation in those fields for deployment by countries when the law reform environment permits: see blueprintforfreespeech.net.