About John
John heads the firm’s International practice and continues his energy, competition and corporate work out of the firm’s Brisbane and Sydney offices.
John is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Oxford University with more than 25 years’ experience in major transactional, advisory and project work. He has a nationally significant practice in competition law, merger control, energy (gas and electricity), utilities, regulated industries, resources, TMT, transport, agribusiness, intellectual property, life sciences and administrative law.
He also has a strong understanding of the government sector with considerable experience in privatisation and state transactional matters. John’s clients continue to include significant corporates, multinationals, private equity firms, hedge funds, entrepreneurs, and government entities.
John has been recognised in all the leading directories including comments that he is “celebrated for his fantastic knowledge, practical application to the case” and the way in which he “communicates his points clearly”.
John sits on several boards in Australia, including not-for profits.
He is a former Chair of the International Bar Association’s Public Law Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Irish Law Society’s EU & International Affairs Committee.
John is the editor of the competition law section in the Australian Law Journal, a guest lecturer in competition law at the University of Queensland, a frequent speaker at the International Bar Association and speaks regularly in Australia on Brexit, competition law, energy and utilities.
John is admitted as a solicitor in Australia, Ireland, England and Wales.
When not lawyering or travelling, John still plays football turning out at centre back for Newmarket over 35s.
Specialisations
Experience
Serial Adviser on Australian electricity renewables projects, including advising Elliot Group on the acquisition and development of its solar renewable portfolio in Australia.
Other notable examples of his work include advising on corporate PPAs and, in Ireland, advising the Irish and Northern Irish energy regulatory in drafting the rules for the single electricity market on the island of Ireland.