John C. Abbott
Partner, Laytons LLP
John qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales in 1984 and since qualifying he has been engaged in dispute resolution work continually throughout his career. He has more than 30 years of experience in all aspects of dispute resolution, including, litigation, arbitration, adjudication and mediation.
His International Arbitration practice has involved him in a considerable number of multimillion dollar disputes which have involved high profile business and individuals from jurisdictions in Europe, the Middle East, America and the Far East. The subject matter of the disputes he has been involved with include high value commercial and distributions disputes, issues relating to the provenance of certain artefacts and bonds, disputed claims for commissions by galleries and third party introducers and an action to restrain the sale of a work of art by a well-known auction house in circumstances where ownership of the item was contested. John further has considerable experience as an arbitrator having held numerous appointments as arbitrator. He also many years of experience as a mediator.
As an arbitrator and a mediator John has sat on cases involving disputes concerning: commercial commissions claims, contractual breaches including misdescription claims, delayed and failed delivery, commodities claims, IT procurement and construction and property disputes as well as disputes regarding intellectual property rights and partnership and shareholder disputes. He has worked under cases administered by: ICC, LCIA, SIAC as well as ad hoc.
John’s educational background includes University of Birmingham (LL.B. 1981) 2/1); Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature for England & Wales. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an accredited mediator – Civil Mediation Council (England & Wales).
John is a Disputes Resolution Partner at Laytons LLP, a commercial law firm in London. He handles mainly International Arbitrations and is part of the Arts Law Team at Laytons, which is a collaboration of contentious and non-contentious lawyers with an interest and experience in different facets of art law.
Jurisdiction: U.K.