JOHNSON LAW GROUP STRENGTHENS LONDON BENCH WITH FIVE SENIOR PARTNER APPOINTMENTS
Johnson Law Group has appointed five new partners to its London office as the fast-growing firm accelerates its expansion across the UK consumer and group litigation market.
The appointments are designed to strengthen the firm’s group actions capability and support its national growth strategy, amid sustained demand for large-scale consumer redress and increasingly complex claimant-led litigation.
Pete Gallagher has been named London Managing Partner, bringing extensive experience in high-profile, multi-jurisdictional litigation. At his previous firm, Gallagher led the legal teams acting as Lead Solicitors across 13 Dieselgate class actions, together representing the largest group litigation ever to proceed through the English courts. Earlier in his career, he worked on complex cross-border commercial disputes at Shearman & Sterling and White & Case LLP.
He is joined by four new partners — Sarah Bingham, Matthew Hunt, Michael Burke and Priyanka Gladson — all of whom bring experience as case leads on complex, high-value group actions. The firm said the combined expertise of the new partners significantly deepens its capability in managing large-scale consumer claims.
The latest hires follow the arrival of senior partner Jon Beresford from Harcus Parker earlier in 2025, further reinforcing the London office’s senior leadership.
Johnson Law Group has played a central role in some of the UK’s most significant group actions in recent years, including acting as joint lead in the ongoing Pan-NOx diesel emissions litigation and in group claims involving Volkswagen, British Airways and UEFA, brought by Liverpool FC supporters.
The expanded team will continue to be closely involved in the strategic and tactical management of the Pan-NOx litigation, which concluded a 10-week liability trial in December 2025. Judgment is expected before the end of July 2026, ahead of the third and final phase — the quantum trial — scheduled to begin in October 2026.
The appointments come during a period of rapid growth for the firm, driven by heightened consumer awareness, regulatory scrutiny and sustained demand for redress mechanisms across aviation, automotive and competition-related claims.
Jamie Patton, managing director of Johnson Law Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Pete, Sarah, Matthew, Michael and Priyanka to Johnson Law Group. Their collective experience at the highest level of group litigation will be instrumental as we continue to scale our consumer and group litigation practice and invest in complex, high-impact claims. These appointments reflect both the momentum we have built over the last year and our ambition to be at the forefront of consumer litigation in the UK.”
Gallagher said the move marked a significant next step for the firm’s London operation:
“I am incredibly excited to start this new chapter with Johnson Law Group. I am fortunate to be working with such talented colleagues, both those with whom I’ve worked for the last several years, and those who have already done so much to build the firm’s practice in the UK. Together, we look forward to building Johnson Law Group as a leading class action practice and delivering a peerless service for the firm’s clients.”
As competition intensifies in the UK’s consumer litigation market, Johnson Law Group’s latest appointments underline the growing importance of scale, specialist expertise and litigation infrastructure in pursuing complex, long-running group actions.
