He is a Delegate to the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR under a mandate from the U.S. Council for International Business (the USCIB, the ICC’s U.S. National Committee) and a member of the ICC’s Task Force on ADR and Arbitration.  He is a member of CPR’s Council and Co-Chair of its Rules Revision Committee. He is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration’s North America Users’ Council, the Advisory Board of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), the International Bar Association’s Arbitration Committee and International Law, and Arbitration Ireland.  He was a delegate to UNCITRAL Working Group II (Expedited Procedures).

He has been Visiting Clinical Lecturer at Yale Law School, where he taught Advocacy in International Arbitration. He has been consistently listed as among the top U.S. commercial arbitration practitioners in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration and is frequently an invited speaker at arbitration conferences. In 2021 John became the inaugural recipient of the CPR Institute's Partner of the Year Award for his contributions to CPR and alternative dispute resolution.

John’s service as arbitrator includes

• Chair of arbitral tribunal in ICDR arbitration between major international energy companies in dispute over joint operating agreement, farmout agreement and participation agreement for concession to explore, exploit and sell hydrocarbons in region of South America.  (>$400 million in dispute).
• Chair of arbitral tribunal in ad hoc arbitration under AAA Commercial Rules between major international oil & gas companies in dispute over use of offshore production facilities under joint operating agreement. (>$150 million in dispute).
• Chair of arbitral tribunal in ad hoc arbitration under AAA Commercial Rules between major international oil & gas companies in dispute over drilling rigs under joint operating agreement. (> $200 million in dispute).
• Chair of arbitral tribunal in CPR arbitration between Indian Nation and Indian Tribe in dispute over gaming device license. (>$20 million in dispute).
• Chair of arbitral tribunal in CPR arbitration between U.S. companies in dispute over fees due under gas gathering agreement in Permian Basin. ($160 million in dispute).
• Co-arbitrator in ICC arbitration between major international petrochemical companies in dispute involving joint services agreement and ground lease relating to cogeneration, gas and steam turbines, and electrical and steam generation for petrochemical plant. ($250 million in dispute).   

John has been lead counsel in numerous investor-state and commercial arbitrations.

In investor-state arbitrations, he has acted for a Balkan state in cases alleging BIT violations concerning privatization of an anthracite coal mine; investments in telecom, internet and news service providers; investments in a shopping center; and public concession contracts for outdoor billboard advertising.

In international commercial arbitrations, he has acted for a major East Asian technology company in ICC arbitration against a Scandinavian company involving valuation of patent portfolio for smart phone technology; a Mauritius private equity fund in an ICC arbitration involving its shareholder agreement with an Indian cellular communications company; a U.S. power engineering and construction firm in an ICC arbitration concerning the design, procurement and construction of a 105 MW electric power generation plant in Afghanistan; a Kuwaiti logistics company in an ICC arbitration involving a multi-billion-dollar contract with the U.S. Government to provide food and logistics services to military personnel in the Middle East; a French company in an ICC arbitration involving claims under a shareholders’ agreement regarding the ownership and operation of an oil refinery in Germany and related trading in feedstock and refined products; a Brazilian company in ICC arbitration involving a share purchase agreement for one of Brazil’s largest electronics retailers; a U.S. company in HKIAC arbitration involving a Chinese company’s contract to develop and manufacture hematology devices; and a U.S. company in ICC arbitration involving a South Korean company’s contract to develop assays for virus screening.

In commercial litigation, he represented a wide variety of companies and individuals in matters spanning many areas of the law and industries. These include insurance companies in coverage disputes regarding injuries from pharmaceuticals;  a company in Clayton Act § 7 action alleging an anticompetitive merger transaction; a University, its medical center and physicians in a broad array of contractual, medical malpractice and other disputes as chief litigation counsel for over 25 years; a national law firm and its partners in class action and other litigation arising out of former partner’s operation of a major Ponzi scheme; lawyers and law firms in multiple litigations involving allegations of professional malpractice and professional conduct violations; a Fortune 500 company, its directors and officers in ERISA litigation alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with administration of retirement plans and investment decisions; a major energy company in litigation involving claims of breach in connection with contracts for the purchase, sale and exchange of oil products; U.S. energy companies in litigation  involving claims of contractual breach in connection with proposed acquisition of Canadian natural gas company; wine vintners association in connection with litigation involving claims of mislabeling of alcoholic beverages; television broadcasting company in litigation involving warrant holder’s right to compensation in relation to merger; national passenger railroad in wrongful death and personal injury litigation arising out of derailment of passenger train into river; Fortune 50 company in litigation by Lehman Bros. bankruptcy trustee  concerning  share repurchase agreement “loss” calculation under ISDA; U.S. subsidiary of multinational company in two litigations against Federal Government concerning eligibility for soy bean subsidies; hedge funds in litigation against banks and broker-dealers involving claims of wrongful margin calls and liquidation of bond portfolio under ISDA contracts; automotive manufacturer in multiple lawsuits alleging product defects; law firm and partner in litigation alleging claims of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud in connection with the development of real estate project; passengers, decedents’ estates, and families in wrongful death and personal injury litigation against national freight and passenger railroads in connection with collision between passenger and freight train; U.S Secret Service agents in a Bivens action regarding demonstrations in Lafayette Park.

John earned his A.B., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Georgetown University and his J.D., with honors, from The University of Chicago, where he was Editor-in-Chief of The University of Chicago Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. 

After law school, he clerked first for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and then for Associate Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.  John thereafter joined the U.S Department of Justice and served for two years as Special Assistant to U.S. Attorney General Edward H. Levi.

John is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the District of Columbia.