John practices in the firm's Commercial Litigation Department and has nearly two decades of experience handling a wide variety of complex litigation. He defends companies in securities, corporate governance, antitrust, product liability, class action, mass tort, and other business litigation. John regularly represents global companies in the life sciences, chemical, banking, venture capital, fund management, and real estate industries.
In the real estate industry, John represents lenders, REITs, and financial trusts in high-stakes litigation and advisory work regarding workouts and distressed assets, including disputes between servicers and co-lenders, and contract matters relating to distressed borrowers. John develops practical tactics for both negotiations and litigation relating to all types of distressed real estate disputes.
In the area of financial litigation, John defends clients in state and federal courts in disputes involving contested takeovers, securities class actions, investigations by the SEC Division of Enforcement, contested mutual fund rights offerings, RICO claims, fraud claims in insurance company insolvency proceedings, and commercial real estate contract disputes. He often advises mutual funds and banks on litigation and regulatory issues.
John has also served on trial defense teams in some of the largest and most challenging product liability and mass tort litigation in the last decade. He has defended companies in coordinated proceedings involving claims of failure to warn, consumer fraud, manufacturer and design defect, and warranty and breach of contract.
A well-rounded commercial litigator, John has deep experience managing attorneys conducting case-specific discovery, defending witnesses, handling evidentiary and coordination hearings, negotiating with opponents, and deposing and defending expert witnesses. He has litigated constitutional and preemption issues, dealt with regulatory agencies and their regulations, and represented clients in appellate proceedings before state and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court.
Before joining Cozen O’Connor John was a partner Dechert LLP, and he started his career at Sullivan & Cromwell. For John's considerable success, he has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a “future star” in their 2009 and 2010 editions and an “innovative lawyer” by the Financial Times in 2011.
John is a frequent author and speaker at legal conferences, and he is often asked to comment on current litigation in the legal media. He is an author of the Class Action Defense Review, as well as the Drug & Device Law Blog, one of the most well-respected product liability litigation blogs.
John earned his law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark, where he was awarded the Order of the Coif and was a two-time Saul Tischler Scholar. He received his bachelor's degree from Rutgers University, New Brunswick.