The trade world was saddened by the news of the loss of one of our own: Jim Barnes. Below are tributes from our global community. Submit your own tribute via email here.
Michael Byrne
I received the very sad news just as I was posting an item he contributed to back in 2021 into DCW. Dave Meynell had reached out about a query the ICC received on ISP98, and of course, we asked Jim to review and help us answer. After posting, I checked my email and got the bad news.
Jim Barnes passed away on November 1, 2025. Jim was a remarkable man: principled, generous, brilliant, and, alongside my dad, one of the true architects of the modern law and practice of letters of credit and independent undertakings. His influence on our field is immeasurable.
Jim began his career at Baker McKenzie in 1966 after graduating from the University of Michigan Law School. He became a Principal in 1973 and retired in 2022, though retirement was never really in his vocabulary. He remained deeply involved as Senior Counsel until 2022, and I understand he still went into the Chicago office from time to time earlier this year. His dedication to his craft — and to the people in it — simply never wavered.
His professional legacy is extraordinary. Jim played a central role in drafting and shaping UCP 400, UCP 500, UCP 600, the UN Convention on Independent Guarantees and Standby LCs, ISP98, and UCC Article 5, as well as key provisions across the broader UCC. He served as counsel or advisor to countless companies, banks, and firms, and was a trusted collaborator and cherished friend of IIBLP and the global LC community for decades.
And yet, those of us who knew him know that Jim’s impact went far beyond the documents and rules he helped create. He was unfailingly kind, endlessly curious, and always willing to take a call, offer guidance, or share a story. The “Jim and Jim” stories — which came up again at our recent Standby Forum — remain some of the best reminders of the humor, humanity, and sheer joy that he and my father brought to this work. The mark those two left on the industry, and on so many of us personally, is impossible to replicate.
—Michael Byrne CEO, IIBLP and Publisher, DCW
Dan Taylor
The letter of credit world has lost a giant, and I have lost a great friend. I met Jim in the late eighties and worked with him closely until I fully retired in 2019. As President and CEO of the IFSA and Vice Chairman of the ICC Banking Commission I relied on his counsel for all the projects of the ICC (UCP 400, 500 and 600, EUCP, Bank to Bank Reimbursement Rules and other rules and guidance) as well as UNCTRAL projects. During the revision of UCC Article 5 he represented the IFSA and was a driving force in the resulting article. During the revision we talked almost daily. There could not have been a better representative of the industry than Jim. He will be missed by those who knew him for his brilliant mind and outgoing personality (and his colorful ties).
— Dan Taylor, former President and CEO, IFSA (BAFT) and retired Managing Director, JP Morgan Chase
Marilyn D. Williams
Jim Barnes was legendary in the Trade Finance space. It is with profound sadness that I learnt of his passing. We as practitioners and lawyers have honed our skills from his many teachings and wise words. For which, l am very grateful and I speak for the entire Trade Finance world. He will be greatly missed.
Sincere condolences to the family.
In sympathy and in prayers!
— Marilyn D. Williams
Dr. Boris Kozolchyk
Dear Michael, it is with great sadness that I heard and read about Jim Barnes’ passing. He was everything you describe in your letter and more. Among other important contributions to Article 5 of the UCC (of which he and his spiritual brother James E. Byrne were the main drafters) was Section 5-108 e: “An issuer shall observe standard practices of financial institutions that regularly issue letters of credit.”
As a professor and practitioner of letter of credit law in various nations and legal systems during the past half century I witnessed the major contribution made by the United States’ adoption of this rule following the ICC’s adoption of its counterpart in Article 13 of UCP 500.
The fact that United States’ banks, the most trusted world-wide, would be governed by such a rule convinced many other international commercial banks that the time was ripe for their own adoption of these two provisions. These provisions started proving especially helpful to developing nations’, their banks as well as to a large number of distrusted exporters.
As Jim Barnes’ colleague in international letter of credit practice, I quickly noticed his extraordinary ability to identify the hardest to plead and most difficult to prove international commercial-contract facts. In fact, during our last get together, a year or so ago at the University of Michigan College of Law (Barnes’ Alma Mater). He lectured on the reasons why certain letter of credit practices were trusted while seemingly similar others failed to do so. In doing this, he acted as if he were not only acting as a lawyer or judge but also as a merchant who at times acted honestly and at times did not.
At the end of this lecture, I overheard an admiring former professor, telling him how proud he was of his success and added that: “the law of letters of credit has been very lucky to have had such a brilliant thinker and practitioner.” I am certain anyone who worked with Jim Barnes, in or out of a court or classroom, would have heartily agreed.
Thus, I am also proud to report that the Kozolchyk National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade (Natlaw) will open an International and Comparative Letter of Credit and Independent Guarantee Law Library bearing the Byrne, Barnes and Kozolchyk Natlaw names in the near future. Best, BK
— Boris Kozolchyk, Founder & Board Member, Kozolchyk National Law Center
Michael is the CEO of IIBLP and the Publisher of DCW. Michael has over 25 years of professional experience including 15 in trade finance and compliance, and has written and spoken extensively.
