John Swarbrick

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield Law School, John moved to London where he was admitted as a barrister of Gray's Inn. John initially practiced criminal law, first as a prosecutor and then on the defense side. Taking a break from private practice, John became a full-time law faculty professor before he was coaxed back to private practice, additionally qualifying as a UK solicitor. His practice specialized in regulatory law and he was one of the first wave of solicitors to be granted higher courts rights of advocacy, a right that for centuries had been reserved to practicing members of the English Bar.

As part of John's practice, John represented members of several police staff associations including the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales; the National Black Police Association; the Police Federation; and the Metropolitan Black Police Association. Many of the cases he was involved in had national media profiles. He represented the Metropolitan Black Police Association in the Morris Inquiry, which was a major public inquiry into discriminatory employment practices in the Metropolitan Police.He also represented Plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases, including the high profile case of P.C. Joy Hendricks. Following the settlement of that case in a mediation brokered by the Arbitration, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), John made the decision to leave his legal practice in the United Kingdom and move to the somewhat warmer climes of Southern California, where he was subsequently admitted to the California Bar.

John's first labor relations role was as a consultant. Working with Richard Barnes, the former 14th Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, he advised and provided training to a diverse group of both labor and management clients throughout the United States. Consulting clients included the Wisconsin University system and the California University system. In 2012, John was appointed as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Labor and Employee Relations. In that role John had operational responsibility for the labor relations function of the California Sate University, an organization with some 60,000+ represented employees divided into some 13 bargaining units. In addition to acting as Chief Negotiator for all of CSU's contract negotiations, John also had responsibility for the systemwide grievance and arbitration process, and all matters before the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). For a period he also headed the CSU's systemwide Employment Equal Opportunities and Whistleblower Protection Unit. In 2019 John returned to his work as a labor relations consultant providing advice and representation to both employers and individuals in both the public and private sectors.

In addition to his professional legal qualifications, John also holds an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University, and another LL.M. in International Business Law from the University of Manchester. As part of his consulting practice, John served as a mediator in a number of labor and employment disputes, and has taught negotiation theory and practice extensively. He was a former member of the Board of Advisors of the National Center for the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions (City University of New York), and is a current member of the Board of Advisors to the Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peace-building Program at CSU Dominguez Hills.