Draft:John Maalouf

John J. Maalouf is an American lawyer who is a senior partner at Maalouf Ashford & Talbot, LLP. He specializes in practice areas such as international trade and finance law, international arbitration, corporate bankruptcy, business litigation, and intellectual property law.

Early life and education
Maalouf is of Lebanese descent. He earned a Bachelor of Science in economics from Boston University in 1990. He then obtained a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University School of Law in 1993 and an LL.M. in international banking and financial services law from Boston University School of Law in 1994. While in law school, Maalouf received the American Jurisprudence Award.

Career
Maalouf began his career as a lawyer in New York. In 2004, while working as a junior partner at an international law firm based in New York City, he encountered a professional challenge. During a meeting, a senior partner expressed his intention to take control of the complex cases Maalouf was handling for several Fortune 500 companies. The practice, colloquially referred to as a "client grab," often results in the junior partner being sidelined and subsequently dismissed. In this instance, however, Maalouf's clients chose to continue working with him, citing the senior partner's unprofessional behavior as a reason for their decision. As a result, Maalouf resigned from the firm and established his own legal firm called Maalouf Ashford & Talbot, LLP, where is a senior partner.

Maalouf is also a co-author of Inside the Minds: Best Practices for Mergers and Acquisitions in China, published by Thomson West in 2011.