John E. Schiller

Partner

Professional Experience

A partner in the firm, John has been practicing law for 25 years and is experienced in all forms of litigation including bench and jury trials in both state and federal courts and arbitrations.

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 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.
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 amount 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 All claims other than the contract claims were voluntarily withdrawn by the plaintiff after we took depositions and filed a motion for summary judgment.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.

During John's 25 years of practice, his belief in the fairness of the jury system has been continually reinforced over time. Recently he served as a juror and wrote about the experience for a local business publication.

Areas Of Emphasis

John has extensive experience in contract disputes, health care disputes and shareholder and fiduciary matters.

Examples of John’s experience include the following:

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 jury award in excess of one million dollars 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 publicly 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 related matters, including group practice disputes, hospital privileging matters, hospital and insurer reimbursement disputes and ERISA coverage cases.

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.

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

Licensed to Practice

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 & Recognitions

AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Articles by John E. Schiller

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.

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