John Emmerig

John Emmerig is one of Australia's leading litigation and regulatory lawyers. He has 38 years' experience and a national reputation for handling high-stakes domestic and cross-border litigation for prominent multinationals and major Australian companies. John's key focus areas are (1) class action defence, (2) high-stakes commercial and government disputes, and (3) regulator investigations and actions.

Clients describe John as an "industry great", "profoundly experienced" and note "his technical excellence combined with his pragmatic, thoughtful and strategic lens puts him in a league of his own". He is "an exceptional lawyer with a great intellect and impeccable judgement" who provides "a quality of legal service that is second to none".

John is a trusted adviser to companies, their Boards and C-suites and is routinely involved in some of the largest and most complex cases conducted in Australia superior courts. His experience includes advising on:

45+ filed/threatened class actions;

Scores of high stakes commercial and government disputes;

30+ investigations and enforcement actions by key Australian regulators (e.g. ASIC, ACCC, AUSTRAC, APRA); and

20+ Royal Commissions/Statutory Commissions/Parliamentary inquiries.

John's international litigation experience ranges from commercial disputes involving clients from the US, UK, EU and Asia to cross-border regulatory matters in the US and the UK. He also has decades of experience working with the government sector, having acted over that period for 35+ Federal and State government agencies.

National Co-Chair – Class Actions Committee of the Law Council of Australia

Member – Federal Court of Australia's Class Actions Liaison Committee

Member – ASIC’s Enforcement and Regulatory Litigation Consultation Group

Member – Federal Court of Australia’s LCA Liaison Committee on Practice and Procedure

National Co-Chair – Transnational Litigation Committee of the Law Council of Australia

Governor – American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AMCHAM)

Editorial Board – Journal of Equity, LexisNexis (foundation Board member)

Lead author – “Class Actions” section of Federal Court/LCA Practice Manual

Member – AMCHAM Defence and National Security Committee

Member – AMCHAM Financial Services Committee

Member – ASIC’s Enforcement and Regulatory Litigation Consultation Group

Former National Chair – Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section of the Law Council of Australia (2015-2020). The FLDRS is one of the 5 Sections of the Law Council and oversees 16 specialist litigation committees