Jonathon serves as a trusted advocate and adviser in complex, high-stakes and international disputes, providing strategic counsel in international arbitrations, cross-border litigation, tax disputes, restructuring, competition and antitrust litigation.
Jonathon’s practice involves cross-border arbitration, litigation, recognition and enforcement actions in courts worldwide. He has represented many of the world’s leading corporations, investors, UHNWIs, entrepreneurs and sovereign states across jurisdictions, including the U.K., U.S., Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Bermuda and British Virgin Islands. Jonathon has experience across a wide range of sectors, including finance, cryptocurrency, energy, retail, pharmaceuticals, real assets, tobacco, shipping, airlines and telecommunications.
Jonathon is consistently recognized as a leading practitioner by legal publications, including The Legal 500 UK, Lexology, Global Arbitration Review and Who’s Who Legal. Clients have praised him as a “standout litigator who manages matters superbly.” He is “brilliant, diligent, dedicated and trustworthy”, an “incredibly calm, methodical and strategically-astute litigator”, “has exceptional client-care skill, and is adept at ensuring that the client understands complex legal issues” and “goes above and beyond to look after your interests.” Who's Who Legal has noted that Jonathon is renowned for his "extremely high professional standards" and as a "great collaborator" who "demonstrates a keen and crystal-clear expression of the issues." Jonathon was profiled as one of 10 Future Stars for Financier Worldwide's inaugural listing of Power Players in complex disputes. In 2021, he was nominated by external counsel and subsequently announced as the sole winner of the Lexology Client Choice Award for Litigation in the United Kingdom.
Jonathon is a frequent author and lecturer on a range of legal topics. He is co-editor of Arbitration World: Jurisdictional and Institutional Comparisons, sixth edition (published by Sweet & Maxwell), a leading guide to international arbitration law.
Jonathon is a former tutor in contract law and the English legal system at King’s College, London and Queen Mary, University of London.
Education
- BPP Law School, B.V.C.
- University of Oxford, B.C.L.
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Diploma in European Law
- King's College London, LL.B.
Admissions & Qualifications
- England and Wales
Memberships
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
International Bar Association
British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)
Awards & Recognition
Lexology Index, "Future Leader", Arbitration (2025)
Lexology Index, "Future Leader", Commercial Litigation (2023-2025)
Legal 500 UK, "Rising Star," Premium Commercial Litigation (2023)
Winner, Lexology Client Choice Award, Litigation (United Kingdom)
Financier Worldwide, Power Players – Future Stars, Complex Disputes 2020
Matters
Representative Matters
- Represented the trustees of several Bermuda trusts worth in excess of US$20 billion in multiple cross-border proceedings attacking those trusts, including the largest claim by value ever to come before the Bermuda Supreme Court.
- Acted in a complex competition law dispute before the Competition Appeals Tribunal in a matter valued at over £9 billion.
- Acted for Vodafone International Holdings B.V. in its victory against the Republic of India under the Netherlands-India bilateral investment treaty in relation to India’s attempt to impose a US$5.5 billion liability onto Vodafone and its Indian subsidiary through retroactive withholding taxes, interest and penalties.
- Advised an ad hoc group of noteholders in connection with the €2.3 billion restructuring of Swissport.
- Represented a consortium comprised of Crescent Petroleum, Dana Gas and Pearl Petroleum in an LCIA dispute with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq. The dispute was one of the highest-value energy disputes in the Middle East and has produced three partial awards worth a total of US$2.2 billion in favour of the consortium.
- Acted for Philip Morris International Inc. in coordinating challenges against the EU's Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/ EU) and the proposed introduction of standardised packaging on tobacco products in several EU Member States. This matter involved legal proceedings in England, Ireland and before the Court of Justice of the EU.
- Acted for a global hedge fund in appeals against HMRC closure notices and transfer pricing determinations and representing the fund in a related Mutual Agreement Procedure between the US and UK tax authorities.
*Aforementioned matters handled at prior firm