John Martin QC

Educated at Malvern College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he took an MA in Law, John Martin practised initially at the Chancery Bar in Liverpool. The exceptionally varied litigation which he encountered there has been a keynote of his practice ever since.He joined Wilberforce Chambers in 1981, specialising in litigation and related advisory work in a wide range of chancery and commercial matters. The majority of his work is based in business and property law, from traditional Chancery cases relating to trusts, land and charities to commercial contract disputes of all types.

As examples of the former area, he acted against the Greenham Common women in the final stages of their crusade against the Ministry of Defence, recently appeared in the leading case about promises to leave estates by will (Gillett v Holt [1998] 3 All ER 917), and dealt with a landlord and tenant case concerning tunnels beneath Holborn (British Telecommunications v Department of the Environment).

In the latter area, he appeared in a long series of cases relating to computer finance (eg Orion Finance v Crown Financial Management [1994] 2 BCLC 607); led in the Court of Appeal in the "first past the post" Lloyds’ litigation (Cox v Bankside Members Agency [1995] 2 Lloyds Rep 437); and dealt with a novel time of the essence point in Re Olympia & York Canary Wharf Ltd [1993] BCC 159.

He frequently deals with negligence cases (particularly involving solicitors or accountants) relating to areas in which he practises. In addition, he has expertise in areas such as entertainment law (for example, appearing for the estate of George Bernard Shaw in a dispute over video rights to "My Fair Lady"), disclosure of journalistic sources (Saunders v Punch Limited [1998] 1 WLR 986, which earned him an unflattering profile in Punch magazine), and sports law (for example, Formula 1 motor racing and rugby league cases).

He is regularly recommended as a ‘leading silk’ in the Chancery, Company and Property sections of guides such as The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directory.

He has been a deputy High Court Judge since 1993, and is a member of the arbitrating panel of Arbitration for Commerce and Industry. He is a member of the Chancery Bar Association, and is its representative on the Advocacy Studies Board.