John Xavier Butler

John Xavier Butler is a Specialist Counsel and Solicitor Advocate at Wikborg Rein's London office. He specialises in shipping, commodities and international trade.

Before relocating to London, John spent almost 9 years in Hong Kong, where he is also qualified as a Solicitor and previously spent time on secondment to a P&I Club. John has varied experience of shipping work for owners, charterers and cargo interests, including P&I and Defence work; Charterparty, bill of lading and COA matters; MOA sale & purchase disputes; admiralty work and the arrest of ships and other assets in order to secure and/or enforce claims. Outside of the shipping arena, John's work has included more specialised matters such as complex international fraud cases, as well as shareholder disputes – in particular acting for a Chinese SOE in a long-running shareholder and director dispute involving the management of a heavylift JV valued at US$1bn.

John has represented clients in arbitrations in London, Singapore and Hong Kong as well as at numerous mediations.

John speaks fluent German and conversational Mandarin.