John Leadley is the head of the Firm’s Product and Operational Risk Group in London, and manages the Dispute Resolution Department. Chambers UK and Legal 500 rank him as a leading lawyer for his product liability work. John has written articles on dispute resolution, insurance, reinsurance and healthcare matters for various publications, including Product Liability International, Lloyd’s List, Insurance Day and Kluwer’s Handbook for Insurance and Reinsurance Law. He also edits the Product Liability Newsletter of the London office. John is an active member of the Legal Issues Committee of the Association of British Healthcare Industries.

Practice Focus

John is highly regarded for his advisory and claims defence work on product liability, product recall and risk management. He handles a broad range of commercial litigation and arbitration — mostly international — relating to general corporate, financial services and pharmaceutical matters.

Representative Legal Matters

• Advising on and helping Mattel Inc. coordinate a number of multijurisdictional recalls.
• Managing pan-European recalls of defective batteries used in a well known laptop product.
• Handling product liability issues for a division of Pfizer Inc. concerning failed prosthetic heart valves, involving advice on jurisdictional, liability, regulatory and public relations issues from a UK and international perspective, as well as the settlement of claims.
• Acting for Ineos Manufacturing Scotland Limited (formerly part of BP Chemicals) in a major Commercial Court action concerning ownership of CO2 emissions allowances valued in excess of GBP100 million.
• Acting for Primacom AG in a series of widely reported Commercial Court actions commenced by JP Morgan and other banks under a Second Secured Facility Agreement, involving jurisdiction and forum shopping issues.

Admission

England & Wales~United Kingdom (1986)

Education

Inns of Court School of Law  (B.A.) (1985)
Oxford University (Exeter College)  (B.A. Civil Law) (1984)
Oxford University (Exeter College)  (B.A. Law) (1983)