Fieldfisher has bolstered its banking and finance litigation bench in London with the hire of a partner from Hausfeld. 

John McElroy will join Fieldfisher on 29 July after eight years as a partner at Hausfeld, where he served as head of commercial disputes until earlier this year. 

McElroy has 20 years of experience in banking litigation, having acted for and against corporate claimants, bondholders, institutional shareholders, major international banks and financial investment institutions, including during the global financial crisis. Before joining Hausfeld he worked at Quinn Emanuel and had a four-year stint at Travers Smith, having trained and qualified at legacy Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (now Clyde & Co).

McElroy’s experience includes representing a solar energy company in a $20m ISDA dispute against a leading bank regarding foreign exchange transactions and acting for a UK energy company in a dispute over a collapsed $500m+ financing transaction for offshore refineries.

McElroy told this title that he wanted to deepen his banking litigation practice at a firm with established banking expertise, both in disputes and for regulatory and transactional insights, all of which Fieldfisher possesses.

For its part, Fieldfisher is keen to target high-value banking litigation work. McElroy’s addition complements the firm’s existing team, which includes partners Andrew Lafferty, Carly Schiff, Donna Goldsworthy, Helen Mulcahy, James Lewis, Kit Jarvis, Priyanka Kapoor, Richard Waugh, Tracey Wright and Vivien Davies – a depth of resource not open to him at Hausfeld.

The scale of work open to him will also likely increase; Fieldfisher previously represented Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky in a $4bn fraud claim brought against him by PrivatBank in the Commercial Court, in which Hogan Lovells acted for the bank.

Having known Fieldfisher throughout his City career, McElroy saw its recent growth as attractive, thanks to the arrival of arbitration partners like Anya Farren and competition specialists Richard Pike and Stephen Critchley, among others.

“I knew I would be going somewhere where I would get the support that I would need as a partner,” McElroy said. 

McElroy’s versatility is equally attractive to Fieldfisher, including his extensive experience in high-value commercial litigation. He knows all the significant sets of chambers, has practised international arbitration across all the leading arbitral institutions and is familiar with litigation funding.

McElory confirmed to GLP he would continue to act on a broad range of disputes in his new role. However, he expected the balance of such work to shift, as his work with banking and finance litigators develops at Fieldfisher over time while retaining an active presence in arbitration thanks to his work with Arbitration Ireland. 

McElroy is also vice president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association and advocates for LGBTQ+ representation in the legal industry. He will serve as a judge at the Women and Diversity in Law Awards 2025, adding: “Fieldfisher’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is particularly important to me, and I am keen to help advance these initiatives within the firm.”

He said the culture of his new firm was essential, having received encouragement to stand as president of the LSLA in 2026, while DEI was a central part of his commitment to Fieldfisher and the LSLA.

“One of the things that I’ve focused on in my LSLA role is trying to make sure we have a well-rounded and diverse population at more senior levels of law firms and attracting people from various backgrounds,” he said.

Colin Gibson, head of dispute resolution, said: “John’s joining will spearhead our focus on banking and finance litigation. His impressive track record in complex litigation and our leading team will be highly desirable to clients.”

A Hausfeld spokesperson commented: “John’s expertise and dedication have helped grow our commended commercial disputes practice, for which we thank him.”

Hausfeld’s London managing partner, Nicola Boyle, said that since McElroy’s arrival in March 2016, the disputes team has grown to 16 partners, adding: “We are grateful to John for his contributions to strengthening the practice and wish him the very best.” 

Hausfeld recently restructured its management, with Boyle succeeding Lianne Craig. It split the leadership of the disputes team between experienced co-heads Lucy Pert and Ned Beale.