At 2TG our people are hard-working, forward-thinking and approachable. We believe our supportive culture is one of our greatest strengths.
With the set comprising around 60 barristers, we know each other well and work effectively together. We often operate in large teams with clients. Our practice management team is modern and commercial, matching barrister experience thoughtfully to clients’ requirements.
At 2TG our barristers are expert in a broad range of complementary practice areas and we enjoy repeat instructions from a variety of loyal clients.
Practised advocates from the start, all our Silks and the vast majority of our Junior barristers are recognised as leaders in their chosen fields. Many of us are at the forefront of shaping the law in our specialist areas and we pride ourselves in having excellent industry knowledge.
At 2TG our barristers have excellent experience acting across a range of industry sectors and we are able to offer advice in an informed and commercial context.
Our combination of practice area excellence and industry expertise means we possess real insight into the commercial realities facing our clients operating in these areas. Secondment plays an important part of our commitment to developing our skills and understanding.
2TG is home to award-winning accredited mediators, arbitrators, adjudicators and experts with considerable experience of alternative dispute resolution.
Our barristers are also skilled as advocates in different alternative dispute resolution procedures and work strategically with clients to understand their commercial objectives, and then to resolve litigation as cost-effectively and expeditiously as possible.
Work with an international dimension forms a significant part of many barristers’ work at 2TG.
We appear in international courts and arbitral tribunals all over the world, frequently acting on complex multi-jurisdictional disputes. We are particularly well-known for managing cross border litigation on matters of jurisdiction and applicable law and appear regularly in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
At 2TG, in addition to our professional advice, we are recognised for our excellent contribution to education and development. We provide regular high-quality training.
Our reputation among the legal profession and other clients for our first-rate webinars and in-person conferences is very important to us. We also contribute frequently at industry events and as editors of leading texts and authors on topics of legal interest.
John McDonald’s practice focuses on personal injury, insurance and property-related claims.
He has particular expertise in the law of motor insurance. Chambers UK 2022 says that “His knowledge of motor indemnity law is very deep – he knows it inside out”.
John is also highly experienced in asbestos, stress and other disease claims. He is ranked in both Chambers and Partners UK and Legal 500 as a leading junior in Personal Injury.
He has been instructed in arbitrations in Egypt, Tunisia, and several European countries.
Particular interest and expertise in motor insurance. Member of the 2TG MIB team. Advised on redrafting of MIB Hong Kong Agreements. Instructed in many cases by BLM, Browne Jacobson, DWF, Greenwoods, Horwich Farrelly, JAG Shaw, Kennedys, Keoghs, Aviva, Plexus, RSA, Travelers, RPC, Weightmans & others.
Particular interest and expertise in motor insurance. Member of the 2TG MIB team. Advised on redrafting of MIB Hong Kong Agreements. Instructed in many cases by BLM, Browne Jacobson, DWF, Greenwoods, Horwich Farrelly, JAG Shaw, Kennedys, Keoghs, Aviva, Plexus, RSA, Travelers, RPC, Weightmans & others.
Long experience of all areas of personal injury law, with particular expertise in:
Professional negligence of solicitors, as well as engineers, architects and other construction professionals. Particular interest in fiduciary duties of solicitors and in liability of loss adjusters.
Wide experience of most areas of practice in the construction field, including delay and disruption claims, defects claims, flooding, tree root cases, and other work with a technical content. Particular interest in cases involving complex financial or quantity surveying evidence, John’s experience includes ICC arbitrations with hearings in Egypt, Tunisia and several European countries as well as the UK. Instructed on behalf of both employers and contractors, in cases before the Technology and Construction Court, arbitrators (both domestic and international) and adjudicators. Such cases have involved civil and marine engineering projects, as well as office and industrial building developments.
Successfully resisted appeal on Monk v Warbey insurance point. Instructed by BLM.
Appeared for successful claimant in diffuse pleural thickening asbestos exposure case. Instructed by Charles Lucas & Marshall.
Successfully defended fatal mesothelioma case. Consideration of meaning of “substantial quantity of dust” in Factories Act. Instructed by DWF.
Successful application of “racing” exception in motor insurance policy. Instructed by Plexus.
Contention that Monk v Warbey liability did not require insurance upheld. Instructed by BLM.
Resisted application by another motor insurer to intervene in section 152 declaration proceedings. Instructed by DWF.
Power of Court to make variable PPO by consent. Instructed by Greenwoods.
Successful defence on issue of whether accident arose out of use of vehicle on public place. Instructed by BLM Southampton.
Appeals on issue of whether second claim against motor insurer under 2002 EC Regulations an abuse of process. Instructed by DWF Liverpool.
Complex HSE prosecution arising out of collapse of crane. Instructed by Greenwoods.
Successful defence of appeal against arbitrators award in MIB Untraced Drivers case. Instructed by Weightmans, Liverpool.
Successfully defended deafness claim by security guard at an HMV store. Instructed by DWF Manchester.
Successful defence of stress at work claim. Instructed by DWF Liverpool.
Defence of automatism in RTA claim. Instructed by Halliwells.
Successful defence of exaggerated claim. Instructed by Plexus.
Complex multiparty HSE prosecution: Important points of principle. Instructed by Greenwoods.
Asbestos claim – distinction between diffuse pleural thickening and pleural plaques. Instructed by Langleys & Rollits.
Construction of MIB Uninsured Drivers Agreement and section 154 RTA. Instructed by DWF.
Appeal to Court of Appeal, re Reference to ECJ on recoverability of credit hire charges under MIB Uninsured Drivers Agreement. Instructed by Weightmans.
Appeal re admission of further medical evidence where unfavourable video surveillance evidence. Instructed by Plexus.
Complex local authority prosecution of day nursery company re death of child in choking incident. Instructed by Greenwoods.
Exclusion of passengers claim under Clause 6 of MIB Uninsured Drivers Agreement. Instructed by DWF.
Claimant estopped from bringing stress claim by previous Employment Tribunal claim. Instructed by DWF.
Recoverability of credit hire charges under MIB Uninsured Drivers Agreement. Instructed by Weightmans.
Exclusion of stress claim by agreement compromising Employment Tribunal and other claims. Instructed by DWF.
Landslip/subsidence case involving liability of local authorities. Instructed by Dolmans.
Bullying, stress claim. Instructed by Hampshire CC.
Limitation in asbestosis/diffuse pleural thickening case. Instructed by Charles Lucas & Marshall.
Contribution to mesothelioma claim from co-insured. Instructed by Langleys.
Definition of “motor vehicle” under Road Traffic Act. Instructed by Weightmans.
My contact details:
ICO Reg No: Z6798552
Address: 2 Temple Gardens, London, EC4Y 9AY
Email: clerks@2tg.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 7822 1200
The type of personal information I collect
To enable me to provide you with legal advice and representation in courts, tribunals, arbitrations and mediations, I currently collect and process the following personal information:
Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name, date of birth and contact details), bank and financial details, your background and circumstance and education.
Other personal data relevant to, or included in instructions to provide legal services, including data specific to the instructions in question and data included in documents provided to me as part of instructions or otherwise.
Such information may include personal information relating to family members, associates, agents, employees, shareholders or beneficial owners. By providing such personal information to me, you automatically confirm that you are authorised to do so. It is not reasonably practicable for me to provide the information set out in this Privacy Notice to those individuals. Accordingly, where appropriate, you are responsible for providing this information to any such individuals.
Where necessary, I may also need to process Special Category data about you including
How I get the personal information and why I have it
Most of the personal information that I process is provided to me directly by you or via the professional you have instructed such as a solicitor or consultant or other professional adviser who instructs me on your behalf to provide legal services.
I use the information that you have given me in order to
I may share this information with
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis I rely on for processing this information is
How I store your personal information
Your information is securely stored in Chambers or at my home. I use reasonable technical and organisational security measures such as password protection and encryption of computer generated data and keeping paper data secure to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or destroyed, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way.
In this connection, Chambers, as data processor, acting on my behalf, will only process your personal data on my instructions and is subject to a duty of confidentiality.
The data will be held in line with any regulatory obligations and generally be kept for 6 years but may be 12 years, or longer where, for example, the case includes information relating to a minor, from the date of completion of instructions. At this point any further retention will be reviewed and the data will be marked for deletion or marked for retention for a further period.
All data will be securely deleted or securely shredded after this time without reference to you. I will store some of your information which I need to carry out conflict checks for the rest of my career. However, this is likely to be limited only to your name and contact details and the name of the case. It will not include any information that is “sensitive information” for GDPR purposes.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Transfer of your information outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
This privacy notice is of general application and as such it is not possible to state whether it will be necessary to transfer your information out of the EEA. If I do transfer your personal data I will use safeguards to ensure the data is fully protected as required by the UK Data Protection Regulations.
Changes to my Privacy Policy
From time to time, I may need to make chances to my privacy policy. If so, the changes will appear on my entry on the 2TG website.
Marketing
As above, I may share your personal data with Chambers who may in turn use that data to notify you by email, or post about an invitation to seminars and similar events. You may opt out of receiving any such marketing communications at any time by using the “unsubscribe” link in any emails. In relation to how Chambers uses such data, please see Chambers’ privacy policy. Other than sharing personal data with Chambers as described above, I will not share your information with any other third party for marketing purposes.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about my use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to me or to my Senior Clerk, Lee Tyler at 2 Temple Gardens, London, EC4Y 9AY or clerks@2tg.co.uk. You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
© Briefed Ltd 2021. All Rights Reserved.
John is recommended for personal injury in Chambers UK and Legal 500.
“He has a first-class brain for motor insurance work.” “Highly experienced in both personal injury and industrial disease cases.” “He is well thought of for his understanding of insurance law, with a particular focus on motor insurance issues.”
Chambers UK 2025
“John’s written advice is excellent, clear and insightful.”
Legal 500 2025
“John has superb technical knowledge.”
“He always gives clear and robust advice and inspires confidence in decision-making.”
Chambers UK 2024
“John is very good, he is a persuasive advocate.”
Chambers UK 2023
”He is extremely experienced and is the oracle on insurance.” “His knowledge of motor indemnity law is very deep – he knows it inside out.”
Chambers UK 2022
“Very thorough and excellent in court.” “Extremely knowledgeable, astute and a good tactician.” “He is very good with clients and extremely technically competent.”
Chambers UK 2021
“He’s brilliant, meticulous and an extremely pleasant man.” “Excellent – he’s very quick on the papers, very thorough and has great attention to detail.”
Chambers UK 2020
“His attention to detail is second to none. He has an excellent breadth of legal knowledge and is always able to answer complex technical questions. He’s also extremely approachable.”
Chambers UK 2019
“He is well thought-of for his understanding of insurance law. He has excellent knowledge of the area and provides strong, clear advice.”; “He is very strong technically, a good communicator and is always on top of the case.”; “A very good technical lawyer and a charming opponent. His cross-examination is devastating.”
Chambers UK 2018
“elicits praise for his exhaustive case preparation… he’s excellent: incredibly prompt, pragmatic and very astute when it comes to risk management.”
Chambers UK 2017
“very quick with his papers and always makes time to discuss matters over the telephone.”
Chambers UK 2016
“known for his effective, well-judged advocacy … He is very thorough, has a great eye for detail … he is very easy to deal with.”
Chambers UK 2015
“has equally formidable expertise in relation to industrial disease claims and to serious and catastrophic injury cases … he is very approachable, quick and efficient, and he provides thorough, sound advice.”
Chambers UK 2014
“an industrial disease expert who is also well recognised for his Motor Insurers Bureau work.”
Chambers UK 2013
“praised for his “comprehensive knowledge, innovative approach and ability to get to the nub of complex policy issues.”
Chambers UK 2012
“a well-respected industrial disease practitioner, who wows instructing solicitors and peers alike with the “impressive level, clarity and extent of his advice”, and “has a fantastic practice.”
Chambers UK 2011
“scores well because of his awareness of his clients philosophies and tactics”. Solicitors flock to him, as “he displays a willingness to work in partnership…”
Chambers UK 2010
John also features in Chambers UK Industrial Disease Spotlight Table.