John Benson

Practice Areas

John is a partner in the assets & structured finance group at Watson Farley & Williams (New York). John regularly represents financial institutions, private equity and other investment funds as well as foreign and domestic owners and operators in the international shipping markets, with an emphasis on the negotiation and documentation of cross-border asset-backed structured transactions and joint ventures.

John is admitted to practice law in New York and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and advises and issues opinions relating to entities formed in the Marshall Islands and Liberia.

Career

John is recognized as an Expert Based Abroad in Marshall Islands law by Chambers Global 2021 and as a leading asset finance lawyer by legal directories Chambers USA, Legal 500 US and IFLR1000.

Chambers USA notes that he is “highly knowledgeable about shipping company legal requirements across multiple areas, such as finance, asset sale and purchase, risk management and organization structure.” and Legal 500 quoting one client in saying “John Benson truly understands our needs and mindset, and delivers resources across the firm to service us. He understands how we think and is able to align accordingly but also push back if we, as clients, are missing a key point.”

Professional Memberships

• Maritime Law Association of the United States

• New York State Bar Association

• Association of the Bar of the City of New York

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce