John is an English-qualified disputes lawyer, with substantial experience in international arbitration and complex commercial litigation.
His practice has spanned the representation of sovereign states and private-sector companies in cross-border disputes before arbitral tribunals and courts. He also has particular expertise representing clients in relation to challenges to, and the enforcement of, arbitral awards in domestic courts.
John has taught on postgraduate degree courses at Birkbeck, University of London, presented at academic conferences (including, by invitation, at University College London) and published in leading academic journals on English and Malaysian law. John’s sole-authored work has been cited with approval by the Malaysian High Court (on unjust enrichment) and incorporated into practitioner’s textbooks.
John graduated on the Dean’s List during his Bachelor of Laws studies at University College London (UCL) and was awarded the Charlotte Ashby Prize for academic work and contribution to student life. John proceeded to complete the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at the University of Oxford, where he also served as an Associate Editor for the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal. He represented the University of Oxford in the Willem C Vis East International Commercial Arbitration Moot, where his team won the Fali Nariman Award for best memorandum for the respondent.
John is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and Malay, and has completed beginner certifications in Korean and Japanese. He is a certified translator (Chinese–English).
Beyond practice, John is the founding Co-Chair of the Malaysian Lawyers UK Network, an Executive Committee Member of the British Malaysian Society and a Trustee of South East London Mind. John was shortlisted as ‘Changemaker of the Year’ by GROW in 2024. Prior to joining the firm, he trained at an international US firm. Before that, he was a research assistant to prominent law professors (including Professor Charles Mitchell KC, Professor Paul Davies and Dr Niamh Connolly) and the United Nations International Law Commission.
John’s representative experience includes:
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Republic of Zimbabwe v Border Timbers Ltd & Anor [2026] UKSC 9 – Acting for the Republic of Zimbabwe in a grouped appeal (with the Kingdom of Spain) to the Supreme Court defending the enforcement of an ICSID award on state immunity grounds.
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Acting for a state in its challenge and appeal of a PCA-administered award under sections 67, 68 and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996.
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Acted for the Ministry of Finance of a South Asian state in the recovery of trust assets dissipated from an alleged fraud conducted on a state-owned bank.
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Acting for a trustee of the family trusts established by an ultra-high-net-worth individual before the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Court in trust proceedings.
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Acting for a private equity fund in a successful SIAC arbitration concerning an investment in the telecommunications sector in Southeast Asia.
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Acting for a Thai energy company in successfully resisting challenge under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 against an issued arbitral award.
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Acting for a Ukrainian agricultural company in the enforcement of a Kyiv-seated arbitral award in England.
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Acting for the Republic of Croatia in successful ICSID arbitration proceedings relating to a proposed luxury tourism development.
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Acting for a Chinese headquartered biotech company on company law litigation in the Privy Council.
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Acting for a trustee of the family trusts established by an ultra-high-net-worth individual before the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Court.
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Acting for Darktrace plc on its $5.3 billion takeover by Thoma Bravo and acting for Tyman plc on the acquisition of its entire issued and to-be-issued share capital by Quanex Buildings Products Corporation (including in the High Court to sanction schemes of arrangements under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006).
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Acting for a retail investor on claims under section 90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 against a publicly listed company.
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Advising a Middle Eastern state on the compatibility of its proposed city project with international treaty obligations.
