About John
John is a Partner and Head of the EU, Competition, State Aid and FDI Screening practice at Beauchamps. He also leads the firm's Sustainability & Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practice and is a member of its Projects, Infrastructure and Energy Group (PIE). Dual-qualified in Ireland and England & Wales, John has over 30 years' experience working in EU and international law across multiple jurisdictions, including Ireland, France, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
Previously, John served as a partner in the EU, Competition, and Regulatory team of another leading Irish law firm, where he represented a broad range of public and private clients on state aid, competition, merger control matters, and public procurement law issues close to four years. For an additional five years, John continued his EU legal practice as a partner in a regional law firm's Corporate and Commercial practice. He was also a member of his former employer's Competition group in Abu Dhabi, where he was consulted by leading international law firms on competition law issues.
An experienced international lawyer and a specialist in EU and competition law, John advises Irish and international clients on the full range of competition, State aid, regulatory, ESG and dispute resolution matters. He holds an LL.M. in EU & International Trade Law from the University of Amsterdam, obtained with distinction, and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Law, University College Cork, co-chair of the European Law Institute’s Dispute Resolution Special Interest Group and vice-chair of the Irish Centre for European Law’s Membership Committee.
John advises on a broad range of competition law work. He has worked on merger control notifications to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) across the technology, pharmaceutical, fuel distribution and engineering services sectors, securing unconditional clearances. He is an experienced practitioner in foreign direct investment (FDI) screening under the Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023. John has developed a significant State aid advisory practice, counselling prominent public sector bodies on the application of Article 107 TFEU, the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), the De Minimis Regulation and related EU instruments to public funding programmes. He also advises on State aid and EU funding-compliance issues arising from the EU Just Transition Fund, and delivers bespoke State aid training to public sector clients.
John is also an experienced international arbitration practitioner, having acted as counsel, sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and expert panellist in proceedings under the rules of the ICC, ICSID, LCIA, UNCITRAL, WIPO, ICANN, DIAC/DIFC-LCIA, ADCCAC/ArbitrateAD and in ad hoc proceedings, across a wide range of sectors including construction, energy, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services and real estate. He has represented international clients in both commercial and investor-state disputes.
As head of the firm's Sustainability & ESG practice, John advises on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), ESG-related related laws, including the EMPCO Directive.
Relevant Experience
- Ergo Technology in a merger notification to Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and foreign direct investment (FDI) screening notification to the IIS Unit of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) in relation to its acquisition by Presidio, Inc
- Caragen Limited in a merger notification to the CCPC and FDI screening notification to the IIS Unit of the DETE in relation to its acquisition by Aspire Pharma Limited (H.I.G. Capital).
- Glen Fuel Services Limited in a merger notification to the CCPC in relation to its acquisition by East Cork Oil Company, including a detailed Phase 1 investigation.
- Quinn Downes Group DAC in a merger notification to the CCPC in relation to the acquisition of a majority shareholding by Syclef Ireland Limited (Ardian Group).
- Numerous public sector bodies on State aid issues.
- Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (ArbitrateAD) as co-arbitrator in an energy-related dispute under its Arbitration Rules.
- The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) as sole arbitrator in an exclusive agency case under the Expedited Procedure Provisions (EPP) of the ICC Rules.