Lawyers
James Whelan
Counsel
summary
James Whelan graduated with first class honours in Arabic, Persian and Hindi from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1967. Mr. Whelan was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1973, and he was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1980. Mr. Whelan’s professional experience includes 16 years legal practice in the United Arab Emirates. He has translated the standard works The Maritime Laws of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council States (Graham & Trotman, 1986), The Civil Code of the United Arab Emirates (Graham & Trotman, 1987) and UAE Civil Code and Ministry of Justice Commentary (Thomson Reuters, 2010). Mr. Whelan acts as a consultant to Derayah LLPC, including in connection with complex legal translation tasks. Mr. Whelan is universally acknowledged as one of the foremost legal translators from Arabic to English.
EDUCATION
- 1967 Pembroke College, Cambridge with first class honours in Arabic, Persian and Hindi.
ADMISSIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS
- 1980 Called to the Bar of England and Wales, 1973, Admitted as a solicitor, England and Wales
PUBLICATIONS AND SPEECHES
- The Shipping Laws of the Gulf Cooperation Council States Pub. Graham & Trotman 1986, ed. Richard Price. Translated (and corrected and amended others’ translations of) Gulf shipping legislation covering the six GCC countries.
- The Civil Code of the United Arab Emirates Pub. Graham & Trotman 1983 - now superseded by UAE Civil Code and Ministry of Justice Commentary Pub. Thomson Reuters 2010.
- Thomson Reuters/Westlaw electronic library: approximately 6,000 judgments of the higher courts of the UAE.
- Translation of various Saudi and UAE statutes - company, commercial, arbitration, procedural etc. (Thomson Reuters /Westlaw electronic library).
EXPERIENCE AND REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Shipping, commercial, insurance and fraud litigation, company and corporate work, as direct case handler and supervising and training junior staff.
- Experienced in handling Dubai litigation including advising on UAE law and practice, instructing advocates, preparing and translating pleadings.
- Direct translation from Arabic to English and also quality control and checking of others’ translations of documentary evidence.
- Closely involved with the interpretation and application of relevant UAE commercial legislation, including the UAE Civil Code of 1985, promulgated under Law No. 5 of 1985, and of the Civil Procedures Law, Law No. 11 of 1992, since they came into force.
- Expert witness work in the High Court, London, in UAE commercial law and Arabic language.