John practises in public and commercial law.
After taking silk in his late thirties, he has led teams before the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, the Queen’s Bench Division, Chancery Division, Family Division, the Commercial Court, the Court of Protection, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, the Privy Council, the Scottish courts and in many arbitrations. The hallmark of his written and oral advocacy is precision and clarity, making the complicated straightforward. He provides his clients with pragmatic, commercially orientated advice. Over the course of his practice he has led in over 100 reported cases and in six cases that have been litigated before the Supreme Court.
He has been involved in many high profile cases. He represented the Hospital Trusts in the much discussed public law case of Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1361, represented the Official Solicitor in a landmark case concerning capacity before the Supreme Court in A Local Authority v JB [2021] UKSC 52 and acted for the Hinduja family in long running proceedings which culminated in the Court of Appeal case of Hinduja v Hinduja [2022] EWCA Civ 1658. He has more recently been heavily involved in a number of sanctions matters and has provided advice to law enforcement officials in a offshore jurisdiction which led to the seizure of billions of assets and has advised banks and individuals on the implication of UK sanctions.
John has a strong international element to his practice. He was the Attorney General of the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla for two years and continues to have strong connections in the Caribbean and appears before the Anguilla and BVI courts. A fluent Spanish speaker he has long standing connections in Latin America and has worked in Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua and Panama. He is the author of the Latin American and Caribbean chapter of Lissack and Horlick on Bribery. He also works as a consultant on legal projects for the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the EU and others. He is a Vice Chair of the Bar Council’s International Committee.
The directories have described him in multiple areas of law as: “a brilliant and persuasive advocate“; “one of the best practitioners in the country“; “a ferocious, skilled, efficient advocate, with a wide-ranging practice” and “he …is very persuasive and articulate, and first rate with clients. Exceptionally bright, he can just take instructions and come up with a plan the next morning. He’s a bit of a magician in that way, and he’s brilliant to work with“.
He sits as a Deputy High Court Judge, a Recorder, a judge of the Court of Protection and a panel Deemster in the Isle of Man. He previously spent 5 years as a Tribunal judge and arbitrates, adjudicates and mediates in a wide range of disputes. He is also a sanctions appeals officer to the Caribbean Development Bank.
John is a Master Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.
John has an extensive public, administrative and medical law practice. He regularly appears before the Administrative Court, Court of Protection, Family Division and the full range of the Tribunal system. Before taking silk he was a member of the Attorney General’s Panel of counsel and was appointed standing junior to the Advocate General in Scotland. He was the only counsel to represent the British Government before the English and Scottish courts. He is experienced in the fields of mental capacity, mental health, financial services, prisons, procurement, regulatory and education law. He has an extensive practice before the Court of Protection, where he has been involved in many of the landmark cases determining capacity, deprivation of liberty and serious medical treatment.
Re G (Court of Protection: Injunction) [2022] EWCA Civ 1312
Hinduja v Hinduja [2022] EWCA Civ 1492
Hinduja v Hinduja [2022] EWCOP 36
S v Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust [2022] EWCOP 10
A Local Authority v JB [2021] UKSC 52
Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1361
London Borough of Southwark v P [2021] EWCOP 46
HD v A County Council [2021] EWCOP 15
RD (Anorexia: compulsory Treatment) [2021] EWCOP 35
AA (Court of Protection: Capacity to Consent to Sexual Practices) [2020] EWCOP 66
ND (Court of Protection: Costs and Declarations) [2020] EWCOP 42
R (ota British Medical Association) v Northamptonshire County Council [2020] EWHC 1664 (Admin)
A (A Child) [2020] EWCA Civ 731
R (ota EG) v Parole Board [2020] EWHC 1457 (Admin)
JK v A Local Health Board [2019] ewhc 67 (Fam)
Re AB (Termination) [2019] EWCA Civ 1215
Harding v Attorney General of Anguilla (Anguilla) [2018] UKPC 22 (30 July 2018)
DM v Fife Council [2016] ScotCS CSIH_17 (11 March 2016)
Lee-Hirons v Secretary of State for Justice [2016] UKSC 46 (27 July 2016)
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v C & Anor [2015] EWCOP 80 (30 November 2015)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department v ZP (India) [2015] EWCA Civ 1197 (24 November 2015)
JM (A Child), Re [2015] EWHC 2832 (Fam) (07 October 2015)
NRA & Ors, Re [2015] EWCOP 59 (25 September 2015)
HH v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] ScotCS CSIH_33 (05 May 2015)
John is involved in domestic and international commercial litigation and advisory work. He has advised and litigated in the context of disputes relating to international organisation, multilateral development banks and international sanctions.
He has been involved in complex litigation related to off-shore banks and complex creditors and has a growing practice in Fintech. He is currently working with the World Bank to draft Mongolia’s Virtual Assets Law and recently completed a piece of work with the People’s Bank of China to improve their FATF regulatory approach to beneficial ownership.
Recent work includes:
Algeilani v El Samawi [2021] EWCA Civ 997
Tropical Distributors Company Ltd v Permanent Secretary, Min of Finance
Re. Pesqueras Echebastar S.A. Indian Ocean Tuna, Adjudication, Seychelles 2018
Re. PNA Tuna – Adjudication, New York, 2018
DC Accountancy Services v Education Development International PLC [2013] EWHC 3378 (QB)
John acts as counsel, arbitrator and adjudicator in International Arbitration with a significant market knowledge and understanding of disputes arising from and seated throughout Latin America and Caribbean. He worked for a leading Panamanian law firm for several years and worked extensively in LatAm, working in Spanish with large corporations and wealthy individuals in a range of complex disputes. He has experience of cases under LCIA, ICC, ADCCAC and Adhoc rules in disputes ranging from general commercial contracts, hotel management disputes, financial services, energy and natural resources, defence contracting and disputes involving indemnities and guarantees.
Recent work includes:
John is called to the Bar of two Caribbean jurisdictions and has litigated extensively before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in a range of commercial, contractual and public law disputes. He has carried out significant advisory work in the region and has worked and advised a number of Governments, the Inter-American Development Bank and major commercial organisations. He carries out a significant amount of transparency, integrity, anti-bribery, anti-AML and compliance work in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is the Latin American contributor for Lissack and Horlick on Bribery. He has worked in Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Mongolia, China with the EU, British Government, IDB, FATF and others.
John regularly advises and represents those impacted by UK sanctions. He has advised and represented designated individuals, banks and corporates impacted by sanctions designation and law enforcement officials both in the UK and overseas.
To find out more, contact Lexie Johnson on + 44 (0) 207 427 0801 or Paul Barton on +44 (0)20 7427 4907 for a confidential discussion.
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