John is the founder and creator of the Pacific Legal Network (PLN), originally building on the contacts he made living in the Pacific to create an integrated and progressive legal network across 12 Pacific jurisdictions.

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PLN remains the only legal network across the Pacific region. At its core is the development and enhancement of local indigenous law firms in the Pacific, providing upskilling opportunities and professional development support for indigenous lawyers living and working in some very challenging jurisdictions.

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John has held various senior management positions during his career, including as National Managing Partner for an ASX listed law firm and as a Board Member and then as the Global Chair for the international legal network IAG Global. In early 2023, John agreed that PLN would be the patron law firm for the Pacific Legal Association of NSW (PLAN).

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Demonstrating his commitment to the Pacific, John actively participates as a manager and adviser on a pro bono basis in various enterprises across the Pacific including for UNICEF, the Pacific Island Food Revolution, Dermatology Pacific, and Tanna Coffee Development Co. John was also instrumental in having the Pacific Legal Network become the only accredited observer law firm to the Green Climate Fund. John was a Board Member for 10 years and for 3 years served as Chairman of the Pacific Islands Business Council.

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John’s legal specialty is acquisitions sales, restructuring, and financing of businesses of all types, whether in Australia or across the many jurisdictions covered by the Pacific Legal Network. John has led teams of lawyers in acquisitions or restructuring or financing of businesses in Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea.

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John has also been involved in the region’s largest network financing transactions and has been at the forefront of regulatory compliance projects in the Pacific. Specifically, John has led teams in relation to the construction, roll out and financing of many of the fibre optic cable projects to take place across the Pacific over the last 15 years, including the American Samoa to Hawaii cable, the Fiji to Vanuatu cable, the Sydney to Solomon Islands cable and the Tonga to Fiji cable.