Biography
John has jury tried cases for Fortune 500 corporations, privately held companies, insurers, employers, and healthcare facilities; including arbitrations, administrative proceedings, class actions, state and federal court trials; first chair trials to verdict in nearly 40 cases in eight states, in rural counties to major metropolitan areas in Texas and across the Midwest.
Education
B.S., University of Kansas
J.D., University of Kansas School of Law
Bar Admissions
Missouri, 1976
Texas, 1985
Oklahoma, 2014
Kansas, 2016
Court Admissions
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Fifth, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits
United States District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
United States District Court for the Western Districts of Missouri
United States District Court for the District of Kansas
John has more than 35 years of trial experience, representing businesses, insurers, and employers — in many types of litigation – appearing in more than 15 states.
Trials – business litigation; asbestos, silica, chemical exposures; insurance defense: GL, D&O, E&O, environmental, EPLI, occupational disease, first party, coverage and insured representation; ADA, FMLA, ADEA, wage and hour, discrimination, trade secrets and non competes; cyber security – data breach.
Representative Cases
- West Feliciana Acquisition, L.L.C. v. Stewart Title of La., 744 F.3d 352 (5th Cir. 2014) (affirming trial court’s grant of summary judgment and holding that a claim for lost profits or consequential damages was not covered by a lender’s policy of title insurance).
- Stewart Title Guar. Co. v. Mims, 405 S.W.3d 319 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2014, no pet.) (reversing trial court’s class certification order for failure to meet predominance requirement in case involving breach of contract and equitable claims concerning the rate charged for certain owner’s title insurance policies).
- Mims v. Stewart Title Guar. Co., 590 F.3d 298 (5th Cir. 2009) (reversing trial court’s class certification order in case involving alleged violations of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act).
- IQ Holdings, Inc. v. Stewart Title Guar. Co., 451 S.W.3d 861 (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.] 2014, no pet.) (affirming summary judgment for title insurance company on breach of policy claim and for title company on negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims arising out of closing of condominium purchase).
- McGonagle v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co., 432 S.W.3d 535 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2014, pet. denied) (affirming summary judgment for title insurance company on claims of breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation arising from dispute regarding dedication agreement regarding property).
- TF-Harbor, LLC v. City of Rockwall et al., 592 Fed. Appx. 323 (5th Cir. 2015) (affirming dismissal of claim by landowner that adjoining landowner was unconstitutionally attempting to evade easement restrictions that restricted adjoining landowner’s use of its land).
- Stewart Title Guar. Co. v. Spalding, 463 S.W.3d 770 (Mo. Banc 2015) (ruling on accrual of actions under title insurance policy and on scope of damages recoverable based on policy language).
- The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.), 2020-2022
- Litigation – Labor & Employment, 2020-2022
- American Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas – Litigation Section, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma
- Bar Association, Fifth and Eighth Federal Circuits, DRI and TADC
- National Business Institute – Trial Techniques in Texas, Editor and Lecturer
- Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Dallas Petroleum Club
- Delta Chi fraternity
- Kansas University Alumnae Association, Lifetime Member
- First United Methodist Church
- Canyon Creek Country Club