Professional Experience
John is experienced in all forms of litigation including bench and jury trials in both state and federal courts and arbitrations.
In March 2005, John served as lead trial counsel for a Texas based manufacturer in breach of contract action against a Fortune 200 company. John won a jury verdict in the amont of $1.8 million – the full amount sought by his client. 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.
In March 2007, John served as lead counsel in the successful defense of a New York 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 All claims other than the contract claims were voluntarily withdrawn by the plaintiff after we took depositions and filed a motion for summary judgment.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.
Other examples of John’s experience and results include:
- The successful representation of a wallpaper distributor in litigation over the cancellation of a contract for the purchase of wallpaper due to the failure of a Korean manufacturer to provide reasonable assurances of performance.
- Winning a substantial jury award for a chemical company that sued the manufacturer of a lining in a chemical reactor after the lining failed to properly function.
- Recovering a a client’s capital from his former law partners who refused to return the funds after the client left to join another law firm.
- Obtaining injunctive relief preventing a former employee from competing against a national marketing firm.
- The representation of minority shareholders in a dispute over the value of their holdings and right of redemption resulting in a favorable settlement short of trial.
- The successful representation of a home builder in a copyright infringement suit arising from the unauthorized use of the homebuilder’s copyrighted design
- The successful defense of directors of a publicy traded company in a breach of fiduciary duty action brought in Chancery Court in Delaware.
John’s litigation experience also includes a variety of health care and business matters, including group practice disputes, hospital privileging matters, hospital and insurer reimbursement disputes and ERISA coverage cases.
John has negotiated a variety of contracts in the health care arena, including physician group practice agreements, integrated delivery system agreements between hospitals and large insurers and third–party claims processing agreements between a large health insurer and a number of state retirement funds.
As part of his entertainment practice, since 2000 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 lives in Shaker Heights with his wife Betsy and their three children.
Awards & Recognition
- AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell
Presentations and Publications
February 29, 2008 - John delivered a speech on the topic of "Peer Review" at the annual meeting of the American College of Legal Medicine, which took place in Houston, Texas.
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. |
