John E. Schiller

Partner

Professional Experience

John is a business litigator with over twenty five years experience representing closely held and family businesses in complex business litigation, trust, partnership and shareholder disputes. John has tried many different kinds of cases to verdict and appeared in Courts in states outside of Ohio, including New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan and New Jersey. John also has significant health law experience and has litigated health law related cases including physician disputes, ERISA class actions and regulatory matters.

Recent examples of John's experience as trial counsel include:

In January 2010, John successfully represented an Ohio manufacturer and three of its employees in the defense of a complaint alleging the theft of trade secrets and other business torts. The matter was settled after the plaintiff unsuccessfully attempted to remove the case to Federal Court the day the trial was to commence. The public settlement included a statement that based on the evidence heard, Plaintiff no longer believed that the Defendants had committed theft or misappropriation as originally claimed.

In March 2010 John was able to force the release of hundreds of thousands of dollars from a pension fund which whose Trustee had refused to acknowledge John's client as the beneficiary of the funds at issue. The matter was successfully resolved within weeks after John filed a Complaint in Federal Court.

In June 2009 John won a unanimous jury verdict for a client who was sued by a law firm for legal fees. After a trial that took almost four days the law firm was found liable to the client on a counterclaim and the client was awarded damages.

In June 2009 John successfully represented the beneficiaries of an ultra high net worth family Trust. The litigation involved a claim for trustee fees and counterclaims for breach of fiduciary duty and was litigated in Federal Court for almost two years. The resolution took the form of a confidential settlement.

In 2008 John successfully represented the beneficiaries of a Trust in resolving a dispute with a Trustee arising from certain investment decisions made by the Trustee. The amount at issue was in excess of One Million dollars and was resolved without litigation.

In March 2007, John successfully defended a New York State homebuilder against a multi million dollar breach of contract claim in New York State Court. After selling land to our client, the plaintiff brought suit for a myriad of claims including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and executory accord. All claims other than the contract claims were voluntarily withdrawn by the plaintiff after John took depositions and filed a motion for summary judgment. On the eve of the trial, the two million dollar claim for breach of an executory accord was settled without payment. The remaining claim was resolved for a nominal sum.

In January 2006, John served as lead trial counsel in the successful defense of a manufacturer of specialty machine parts in a breach of contract action tried to a State Court jury. The plaintiff sought damages in excess of $150,000. The jury awarded the plaintiff only $5,000.

March 2005, John served as lead trial counsel for a closely held Texas based manufacturer in breach of contract action against a Fortune 200 company. John won a jury verdict in the amount of $1.8 million - the full amount sought by his client.

John's practice primarily involves representing closely held and family businesses in complex business litigation as well as family members in trust and shareholder disputes.

Health Law Experience

John's litigation experience in health law matters includes group practice disputes, hospital privileging matters, hospital and insurer reimbursement disputes and ERISA coverage cases. From 1991 to 1997 John was one of a team of outside counsel for a major regional health care insurer. During that time John was involved in a variety of complex litigation matters and class action cases, including litigation arising out of the liquidation of the West Virginia Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Mut. of Ohio, Inc., 6 F.3d 243 (C.A.4) 1993. John's work on this matter continued with the representation of the health insurer in connection with an investigation by the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Governmental Affairs in 1993 which conducted a high profile investigation into the insolvency of the West Virginia plan and the solvency and business practices of a number of the participants in the Blue Cross System and the Blue Cross Association.

Entertainment Practice

As part of his entertainment practice, John has represented Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and 2002 Grammy award winner, Solomon Burke in a variety of matters, including the negotiation of CD and DVD contracts. John also represents independent film producers in various matters, including the negotiation of talent agreements and music related issues.

Presentations

February 29, 2008 - John presented on the topic of "Peer Review" at the annual meeting of the American College of Legal Medicine, which took place in Houston, Texas.

Education

B.A. Government and Philosophy, University of Virginia 1979
J.D. Case Western Reserve University School of Law 1984

Winner, Best Oral Advocate, 1984 Dean Dunmore Moot Court Tournament

Bar Admissions

Ohio
United States District Courts for the Northern District of Ohio and Eastern District of Michigan
United States Courts of Appeal for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits

Awards & Recognition

July 2010 - John Schiller was honored for his professional rectitude by a client who endowed a $1.5 million Chair in Legal Ethics in his name at the Maurer School of Law, Indiana University at Bloomington. The holder of the John E. Schiller Chair in Legal Ethics can specialize in any area of the law, but must demonstrate a commitment to the highest standard of legal professional ethics through her or his teaching, scholarship, and service. The name of the holder of the Schiller Chair will be announced in the fall of 2010.

The Journal of Financial Services Professionals, through its Kenneth Black, Jr. Journal Author Award Program, has recognized John E. Schiller for his 2008 article, "Trustee Liability: A Litigator's Perspective." John's article placed second among the top three pieces published in the Journal, as determined by an independent panel of judges. Named in honor of Kenneth Black, Jr., PhD, CLU, editor of the Journal for forty-one years, these awards were issued on the basis of the originality of the authors' research and on the articles' clarity, timeliness and appropriateness for the Journal's readership.

Articles by John E. Schiller

In the August 2010 issue of The Tax Adviser, John E. Schiller discussed the potentially sensitive issue of trustee compensation in his article, "Trustee Compensation: Proceed with Caution."

Winter 2010 - In the article, "A Physician's Last Chance," published by the Federal Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association, Michael J. Jordan and John E. Schiller discussed the challenges facing attorneys when contesting, through the state or federal court system, a physician's loss of hospital privileges.

November 2008 – "Trustee Liability: A Litigator's Perspective," Journal of Financial Service Professionals Magazine, November 2008, Vol. 62, No.6

October 2007 – John's article, "Observations from the Box," has been published in the October, 2007 issue of Inside Business magazine. In this piece, John described how his recent experience as a juror has reinforced his faith in the American jury system.