John specialises in commercial and civil fraud litigation. Admitted as a solicitor in 1983, John worked in private practice and in the financial services industry as in-house counsel before establishing Bivonas with Antony Brown in 1997.
John has extensive experience in a wide range of courts and tribunals including the UK Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Divisional Court. He has been involved in a number of important reported cases.
– Acting for directors of a plc listed on the London Stock Exchange in relation to an internal investigation of alleged fraudulent misconduct followed by proceedings to set aside an issue of new shares for an alleged improper purpose designed to affect the outcome of a vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and breaches of the Companies Acts.
– Acting for the principal defendant subject to a worldwide freezing order in relation to a claim that he was allegedly liable for deceit and breach of duty as effective controller of US$87.5m of the claimant’s funds repatriated from Turkey.
– Advising the directors of a company as to their potential liability to the company, its creditors, its members and others arising out of the investment policy of the company and in particular concerning losses relating to investment bonds issued to a local authority valued at over £30m in a related sustainable energy business.
– Acting for a widow whose late husband was sold a toxic financial product by a major high street bank. Successfully heading off proceedings by negotiating a favourable settlement for the client with the bank.
– Advising in relation to UK and EU sanctions against Russia and the Register of Foreign Entities maintained at Companies House in relation to UK properties.
John is a member of the Proceeds of Crime Lawyers’ Association, Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association and the Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers.
John has contributed articles to the Solicitors Journal and other publications.