John Emmerig is one of Australia's leading litigation lawyers. He has 33 years' experience in high-stakes litigation spanning class action defense, "bet-the-company" commercial/contract disputes, and government and regulator litigation/investigations. John has a national reputation for his outstanding track record in each of these fields.
John routinely acts for major global and Australian companies in some of the largest and most complex commercial cases conducted in Australian superior courts. He has advised on over 35 filed/threatened class action matters. He has extensive experience in major disputes involving federal and state government agencies and in counseling companies and boards/C-suite on investigations and enforcement actions by the Australian corporate regulator (ASIC) and by other key Australian regulators. John has acted in over 20 Royal Commissions, Statutory Commissions, ICAC, and Parliamentary inquiries. His international litigation experience spans court and arbitration disputes in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.
John is co-chair of the Class Actions Committee of the Law Council of Australia, an adjunct professor of law at UNDA, an editorial board member of the Journal of Equity, lead author of the "Class Actions" section of the Federal Court Practice Manual, the editor (Federal) of the Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a member of both the Federal Court of Australia's LCA Liaison Committee and Class Actions Committee, a participant in various ASIC consultation fora, a member of AMCHAM's Defence and National Security Committee, a guest lecturer, and the author of over 100 legal articles.
Expérience
"His technical excellence combined with his pragmatic, thoughtful and strategic lens puts him in a league of his own."Public Corporation General Counsel
- Australian National University (Bachelor of Laws 1988; Bachelor of Science 1986)
- High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, and Western Australia
Leading individual in "Dispute Resolution": Chambers Asia Pacific/Global, Asia Pacific Legal 500, AFR Best Lawyers, AsiaLaw Profiles; leading individual in "Class Actions" and "Government": AFR Best Lawyers
"Class Action Defence Attorney of the Year — Australia" (2018 APAC Insider Awards); "Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year — Australia (2018 Finance Monthly Law Awards); "Test Case Litigation Lawyer of the Year — Australia": 2016 (Global Fund Awards)
Best Lawyers in Australia: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Class Action Litigation, Government Practice, Litigation (2021)
Chair, Federal Litigation Section of the Law Council of Australia (2017-2020), co-chair Transnational Litigation Committee (current), co-chair Class Actions Committee (current)