John Bramhall

John has a strong market reputation as a first class disputes lawyer having represented clients in a wide range of international, financial and City-related commercial disputes.

John is highly experienced in acting for (and against) financial institutions in complex disputes involving the mis-selling of complex financial products.

He has represented clients in the LIBOR and FOREX investigations in the UK, US and Europe, and defended former Deutsche Bank traders charged with fraud in the UK and US, including Gavin Black, who was recently acquitted by the New York Court of Appeals (January 2022). He has also acted in a number of other fraud and regulatory investigations and enquiries, including FIFA, Qatar and Rolls Royce, and been instructed on a number of derivatives claims arising out of the financial crisis, including the collapse of Lehman Bros and the Icelandic banks.  He also represented Italian bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS), in multi-million pound proceedings with Nomura in relation to the restructuring of financial transactions.

John has also acted in a wide range of commercial disputes, including acting for a Luxembourg liquidator in complex multi-party proceedings involving US and Italian parties and an alleged £200m fraud - the Fortress litigation, named as one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases for 2014. He was successfully involved in an investment dispute on behalf of the Saudi Arabian Development Corporation (SEDCO), arising out of the Pinnacle construction project; he acted in the Skype litigation; has been advising a group of senior oil industry executives regarding their rights in relation to a Singapore arbitration; and advised claimants in a competition claim arising from the alleged air freight cartel.  He has also acted in a number of disputes involving Russian and other East European banks and other financial services entities, and continues to act for the former Minister of Finance of Bulgaria as co-defendant with VTB and others in a claim over the alleged sale at an undervalue of part of the Bulgarian telecoms network.  John is also lead partner for CMC Markets in a number of disputes for this listed spread-betting company.

His recent experience includes acting for the Railway Pension Scheme (Railpen) on a number of commercial disputes; acting for Sun Global Investments Limited in a claim by Lodha, India’s largest real estate developer, following the issuance of bonds in a $225m refinancing arrangement.

Much of John’s work has an international flavour and involves multi-jurisdictional issues. He regularly acts for clients where there are concurrent and/or related proceedings in the US and the UK, and for US clients with UK subsidiaries and/or other UK interests.

John was President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (2014-2016), is a member of the International Bar Association, and a graduate in law from St Anne’s College, Oxford University.

John is well known on the London litigation scene, and is a favourite with Magic Circle and other leading London, Italian and US law firms who regard him as a trusted and effective lawyer for conflict referrals work.  Sources regard him as “very experienced really smart and a good pair of hands” with one client saying he “has shown much expertise and attention to detail”. [Chambers & Partners UK 2019].

“He is extremely to the point – he can jump straight to somewhere anyone else would take 30 minutes to reach. He also has a relaxed demeanour that makes him pleasant to work with.” [Chambers & Partners UK 2020].