Introduction
John McLinden is a versatile trial and appellate advocate who commenced practice in 1993. He was appointed one of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Counsel in 2011.
John accepts appointments as an arbitrator. He is also qualified to accept instructions through the Bar’s Public Access Scheme.
John is a generalist. This is as a result of his having practised at the New Zealand Bar from 1975-1992. He has appeared in a great many civil and criminal trials, and has argued dozens of appeals. These cases have involved almost every area of the law. He is just as at home before a jury, as before a judge.
John has been reported in a wide range of cases in both jurisdictions in which he has practised. In England the cases concern the common law, chancery and the criminal law: see details at
John’s current work generally involves substantial and complex cases over a wide variety of practice areas. Recent examples included being part of an Anglo-French team representing English-based businessmen the subject of a French judicial investigation for alleged money-laundering, appearing for the claimants in a class-action pension claim against a FTSE 100 company, acting for HMRC in Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) appeals, representing claimants in cross-border fraud claims, and acting against various Defendants arising out of the attempted overthrowal of the President and Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
John also does a wide variety of other work, including contractual disputes, telecommunications, construction, judicial review and immigration, see Recent Cases.
John’s clients comprise individuals, partnerships, companies, institutions and governments. He has worked extensively with in-house solicitors and legal departments.
John has many international contacts, with whom he has working relationships. In recent years John has acted in cases involving Switzerland, Japan, the United States, Norway, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, New Zealand, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea and Jamaica.
In addition he gives a considerable amount of time to Pro Bono cases ranging from small claims to death-row appeals in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Please do not hesitate to contact John’s clerks for further information or to discuss possible instructions.