John graduated from Durham University in 1981 with a degree in Law & Economics. He subsequently joined law firm Addleshaw Sons & Latham in Manchester as a trainee solicitor, where he qualified in 1984. John remained with the firm as a commercial litigation specialist and in 1990 was made a Partner.  Over the years John gained extensive experience in advising and representing a variety of clients across a range of commercial issues, including for example cases involving breach of contract, shareholder disputes, warranty claims, professional negligence claims, partnership disputes and property claims.  The firm grew substantially during the 1990s/2000s with two major mergers and became Addleshaw Goddard LLP, one of the UK's leading law firms, with annual fee income of c.£200m and offices in the Middle and Far East. 

John's work, which could be for either Claimants or Defendants,  frequently involved complex and high value claims - for example, representing a Russian mining company in an ICC arbitration with a US supplier of heavy equipment, and acting for the claimant in the reported High Court case of Barclays Bank plc v. Grant Thornton UK LLP [2015] EWHC 320 - as well as smaller cases.  In recent years a significant proportion of the litigation handled by John for clients involved professional negligence claims.  Many of these, and other commercial disputes, were successfully resolved through mediation.

John retired as a Partner in Addleshaws in 2017. During his long career with the firm he held a number of management positions including Head of Department and Board member.