John M. Townsend

Areas of Concentration

John M. Townsend is a litigation partner in the Washington office of Hughes Hubbard and chairs the firm’s Arbitration and ADR Practice Group. His practice focuses on complex disputes, particularly international disputes, both in court and before arbitral tribunals.

Mr. Townsend’s arbitration practice includes representing parties in international and domestic commercial arbitration and in investment treaty disputes, and acting as an arbitrator. Mr. Townsend served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) from 2007 to 2010 and is currently Chair of the AAA’s Nominating and Governance Committee. He was the first chairman of the Mediation Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA). In February 2008, he was appointed by President Bush to a six-year term as one of the American members of the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Chambers has consistently ranked Mr. Townsend among the top international arbitration lawyers in the United States and has described him as "just a master," who "understands international ADR better than any other in the market."

Mr. Townsend’s litigation practice has included participation as a Hughes Hubbard associate in the successful defense of Ford Motor Company on a charge of negligent homicide in the Pinto fuel tank trial in Indiana and as a young partner in the defense of the building owner in the Kansas City Skywalks Collapse Litigation. He is currently leading a Hughes Hubbard team acting as national counsel to a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in nationwide, multi-defendant litigation challenging the use of published “Average Wholesale Prices” (AWPs) as a reference point in Medicaid reimbursement.

Mr. Townsend is a Trustee of the U.S. Council for International Business and chairs the Council’s European Privilege Task Force. He recently submitted an application on behalf of the Council to intervene in the Akzo Nobel v. European Commission case in the European Court of Justice to urge European recognition of an attorney-client privilege for company counsel.

Mr. Townsend is a member of the American Law Institute and of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, and has served on the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop faculty. He has been with Hughes Hubbard & Reed, in New York, Paris, and Washington, since 1971. He speaks fluent French. 

Recognitions

• Ranked in the first tier by Chambers USA 2011 as one of the top eight international arbitration lawyers in the U.S.
• Ranked by Chambers Global 2010 as one of the top international arbitration lawyers in the world
• Recognized in the 2011 editions of The International Who's Who of Arbitration Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Commercial Litigation Lawyers, and The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 
• Included in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the field of International Arbitration Listed as one of the “top 20 arbitration specialists in the world” by Cross-Border Quarterly, July-September 2006
• Identified by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2005) and as one of the 500 Leading Judges in America (2006)

Court Admissions

• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits
• United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York, the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and the District of Colorado
• United States Court of Federal Claims