John Crook
Partner
Hong Kong
John is a partner in Walkers' Insolvency, Restructuring & Dispute Resolution Group based in the Hong Kong office.
He is a leading practitioner of Cayman Islands, BVI and Bermuda commercial litigation and all forms of dispute resolution with a nexus to Asia. John also advises on insolvency, special situations and corporate restructuring matters.
John works on matters before the Grand Court's specialist Financial Services Division, the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, the BVI Commercial Court and the ECSC Court of Appeal in BVI and the Supreme Court in Bermuda and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He has acted for a wide range of clients including ultra-high net worth individuals, private equity funds, multi-national companies, countries, banks, insolvency practitioners and professional trustees.
His caseload primarily involves:
- commercial disputes,
- shareholder / director disputes,
- unfair prejudice and just and equitable winding up petitions,
- investment fund disputes,
- joint venture, M&A and take private disputes,
- offshore strategies in support of onshore litigation and arbitration,
- fraud and asset tracing,
- contentious trust, and
- debt recovery and restructuring.
This has also included a wide array of interlocutory work. John has particular expertise in helping clients with freezing orders, prohibitory injunctions, the appointment of receivers and other urgent injunctive relief, often in support of foreign Court and arbitration proceedings.
John is recommended in Legal 500 (Asia Pacific, 2025) where clients note that he "is an excellent team leader with rich experience in handling complex offshore disputes". He has a strong track record of successfully developing and implementing cross-border litigation strategies and his reputation in this regard is well earned having worked on some of the highest profile offshore litigation cases with a nexus to China in recent years. In particular, he has deep knowledge of questions of jurisdiction and other conflicts of law issues as well as issues concerning the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards (including under the New York Convention).
He excels at advising clients on mitigating litigation risk and developing sophisticated strategies that put clients on the best footing possible at the early stages of disputes. He frequently provides contentious and non-contentious advice on issues involving company law, company restructures, corporate finance, directors’ and partners’ duties, and breach of trust situations.
John also has significant experience of commercial arbitration, including under the auspices of the ICC, LCIA, HKIAC and SIAC, as well as ad hoc arbitral proceedings under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. John advises on all matters relating to arbitration in the Cayman Islands, BVI and Bermuda.
He also accepts arbitral appointments and foreign law expert roles in both litigation and arbitral proceedings.
John Crook of Walkers is an excellent team leader with rich experience in handling complex offshore disputes and commercial arbitration cases. John Crook is very conscientious in his work. He is familiar with every detail of the case and is able to work skillfully with legal professionals from different backgrounds.
Experience and recent work
John joined Walkers' Hong Kong office in September 2019. Prior to joining Walkers, John practised as a dispute resolution lawyer at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in London and Hong Kong. His practice included commercial litigation and arbitration and John was involved in a number of offshore litigations, instructed by other law firms together with Lord Goldsmith QC PC. He also gained experience acting as agent in offshore appeal proceedings before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Qualifications
Admitted in:
- Bermuda, Registered Associate
- British Virgin Islands
- England and Wales (not practising)
Education:
- Master of Laws, University College London
- Graduate Diploma of Law
- Master of Arts (First Class Honours), University of Cambridge
2025 Legal 500 Asia Pacific - Next Generation Partner - "Seasoned litigator John Crook is also noted for his handling of contentious trust and shareholder disputes." "John Crook of Walkers is an excellent team leader with rich experience in handling complex offshore disputes and commercial arbitration cases. John Crook is very conscientious in his work. He is familiar with every detail of the case and is able to work skillfully with legal professionals from different backgrounds."
2024 Asia Legal Business Offshore Client Choice - Ranked Lawyer
2022 Asia Business Law Journal’s A-List of Top 50 Offshore Lawyers
Team Members
