John Stephens has a well-respected commercial chancery practice, specialising in pensions, trusts, and commercial litigation. Described as "a fighter", he is "a performer who works like no-one else anddives right into the guts of a case..very involved and not at all pompous" with "wonderful commercial judgement" and "a nose for the winning angle" (Chambers & Partners 2007).

Pension and trust work is his particular forte, especially where involving complex financial issues and analyses. He has been involved in some of the leading cases in the pensions arena and advised the government directly and through many of its departments.

He has also acted as advocate and adviser in a significant number of private trust cases. These are generally offshore (for example, in the Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). This has given him, amongst other things, an in-depth knowledge of shipping, finance and financial analysis.

Recommendations:
In 2008 John Stephens is recommended in Legal 500 for pensions work, referring to the fact that he is "down to earth and sees the points in the detail".. Chambers & Partners/2009 recommends him for commercial Chancery, commercial litigation and pensions.

Academic history:
Brasenose College, Oxford

Appointments:
Chairman, Trustees of the Bar Council Pension Scheme
Professional memberships:

Chancery Bar Association
Association of Pension Lawyers