Shepherd and Wedderburn

Commercial and International Disputes

John is a partner, head of the firm’s UK-wide commercial litigation practice and an experienced solicitor advocate. He deals with a range of commercial litigation and has particular expertise in intellectual property and IT matters. He has rights of audience before the Scottish and English courts, appearing regularly before the Court of Session and the Scottish Appeal Court, and is one of the few solicitor advocates to have appeared before the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. John advises on IP infringement issues and in particular online brand protection for clients from a variety of sectors, UK-wide, including energy and utilities, banking, IT and manufacturing. He has considerable experience in leading and managing high value claims backed by third party litigation funders. He sits on the Lord President’s Consultative Committee on Commercial Actions. He sits on the ADR Committee of the International Trademark Association and on the Lord President’s Consultative Committee on Commercial Actions in Scotland.

Trained McGrigor Donald; qualified 1992; admitted as a solicitor in Scotland 1992; admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales 2005; admitted as a solicitor advocate in Scotland 2000; admitted as a solicitor advocate in England and Wales 2006; accredited as a specialist in intellectual property law by the Law Society of Scotland; partner Shepherd and Wedderburn 2010; written pleadings (Tottel Publishing).

Johnstone High School; Edinburgh University (1990 LLB (Hons); 1991 DipLP).