Clifford Chance
After an exciting time in Clifford Chance’s Hong Kong Corporate practice, John is now helping a Fortune 500 business adapt to changing markets in Asia and beyond.
Growing up in Australia, John first visited Hong Kong on holiday and immediately sensed it was somewhere that he would like to live and work. It was the start of a career-defining journey that saw him join Clifford Chance’s Hong Kong office in 2014. As an associate in the firm’s Corporate practice, primarily advising private equity firms, John enjoyed the challenges of working across sectors and geographies. “Seeing different trends in the market and being at the cutting edge of industry changes was exciting,” he explains, adding that he made the most of the opportunities the job presented, including working on deals across a variety of industries including technology, insurance, life sciences and infrastructure.
“Being at the cutting edge of industry changes was exciting.”
With an interest in business that went back to his time at the University of Western Australia, where he studied both commerce and law, John began to consider taking an in-house role. “At Clifford Chance, you get an opportunity to see how different companies are tackling issues,” says John, explaining how this increased his interest in working within a business. Another driver was becoming a father, which led John to reconsider his career in terms of work/life balance.
This made the opportunity to join Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson Limited as Legal Counsel in 2016 simply too good to resist. An Asian-based group with a 190-year history, Jardine Matheson has interests across a wide range of sectors from property, retailing, and luxury hotels to motor vehicles, engineering and construction, transport services, and restaurants.
“They’re very focused on the commercial application.”
His transition to in-house life was helped by his commercial focus at Clifford Chance, but there were still adjustments to be made. John recalls having to make his communication style more informal to reflect the fact that he was one of the team now, not an external provider talking to a client. “They’re very focused on the commercial application and providing solutions – so thinking about how your advice is going to be used and acted upon is key,” he adds.
His talents were further recognised in 2020 when he was appointed Head of Group Legal Affairs at Jardine Matheson. As you might expect of a leader in an organisation with a long history of successfully adapting to changing times, John is constantly looking to the future and how it will impact the business, whether that’s the increasing electrification of road travel, the commercial possibilities, and legal complexities around customer data, or the rapidly developing focus on sustainability.
John says that one of the many benefits of his job is the opportunity to meet Clifford Chance colleagues old and new. That may be either through Clifford Chance’s role as a trusted advisor to the organisation, via our alumni network, or naturally, through the many business connections he makes across the Jardine Matheson universe.
“The grass is not always greener.”
While excited by what lies ahead, John strikes a note of caution for others considering an in-house job. “The grass is not always greener,” he says, advising those considering such a move to be patient, wait for the right opportunity, and sound out their contacts to make sure that it’s the perfect fit. That’s something John has clearly found at Jardine Matheson as he helps them take the next step in their long and illustrious history.
