John Melville-Smith > Seddons > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Seddons Offices
120 New Cavendish Street
W1W 6XX
England
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John Melville-Smith
Work Department
Dispute Resolution
Position
John is a Partner in our Dispute Resolution team, with over 20 years’ experience, particularly in challenges to wills, contested probate and inheritance disputes, commercial partnership and contract disputes, professional negligence, insolvency and debt recovery.
John has a reputation for giving his clients candid and clear advice both on the prospects of success in law and on the commercial realities of the situation. He is experienced in negotiating settlements from positions of both strength and weakness and always advises his clients to seek a negotiated or mediated settlement in preference to incurring the costs and uncertainties of trial.
Wherever possible, he conducts his own advocacy, in both the County and High Courts, and has conducted many trials himself, mainly of fast track contract disputes in the County Court.
John is a member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (‘ACTAPS’).
Career
- 2006 – Present | Seddons, Partner
- 1999 – 2005 | Gillanders, Partner and Head of Litigation
- 1996 – 1999 | John Martlew & Co, Assistant Solicitor
- 1994 – 1996 | John Martlew & Co, Trainee
Memberships
John is a full member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (‘ACTAPS’)
Education
St Edwards’s, Cheltenham; University of Birmingham (1991 LL.B); College of Law, Guildford (1993 Solicitors’ Finals); De Montfort University (2011 LL.M); College of Law, Guildford (2013 ACTAPS ‘diploma’); Open University (ongoing, French and Spanish)
Lawyer Rankings
London > Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market
Seddons delivers ‘a Magic Circle service for mid-market (and top-end) clients’. The team is experienced in banking and commercial litigation, IP matters, and restructuring and insolvency, as well as wills, trusts and probate disputes. Christian Smith is a corporate, shareholder and commercial agency disputes specialist. John Melville-Smith acts in contested trust, probate and inheritance claims and Steffan Taylor has an ‘excellent legal brain’. In January 2024, David Wheeler stepped down as partner, but remains a consultant, while Marvin Simons retired from practice in December 2023.