John (Jack) focuses his practice on the defense on premises liability, trucking, construction and auto liability, representing over a thousand automobile cases to conclusion. John has tried dozens of auto cases with over 95% of them ending in defense verdicts or verdicts lower than the original settlement offer.
John is a graduate of Penn State University and a former member of law enforcement, having worked for the Lackawanna Sheriff's Department. While attending the Widener University School of Law, John worked as the commercial sales manager for ADT Security Systems in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey from 1988 through 1996.
John joined Marshall Dennehey in January of 1997 and became a shareholder in 2004. He is currently the lead attorney for the Dunmore High School Mock Trial Team and a basketball coach in his community.
Significant Representative Matters:
Defense of several auto cases in which the plaintiffs were killed. In each of these cases the demand was far in excess of the policy limits.
Defense of numerous auto cases involving pedestrians. Many of these cases have been tried to defense verdicts where the plaintiffs' injuries far exceeded the available coverage.
Defense of a hospital where the plaintiff was one of their own staff physicians who had a seizure while at work and was unable to return to his position as a physician. The allegations were that more should have been done initially when he had the seizure and the hospital should have been better equipped to deal with such situations. The lost wages alleged in this matter were over $7 million.
Defended an auto case in which the plaintiff was killed and plaintiff's counsel evoked the Dead Man's Rule. We were able to show that his expert, a state police officer, had interviewed our insured, thereby negating the Dead Man's Rule. The Superior Court agreed with our argument, and the defense verdict that we obtained in this litigation was upheld. In this particular case the Pennsylvania State Police Accident Reconstructionist testified that the accident was, in fact, the Defendant's fault.
Defended an auto case where the plaintiff, an ophthalmologist, claimed he could no longer work, had multiple experts, including vocational, economic, psychiatric, orthopedic, and neurological practitioners. The initial demand was for our policy limits of $500,000. Through the use of our experts in a non-binding mediation, we were able to show the plaintiffs' experts would not hold up in front of a jury, and the case resolved for an amount far below the policy limits.
Obtained defense verdicts in several auto cases in northeast Pennsylvania where the underinsured motorist claims had gone to arbitration and six-figure awards have been granted. Most involved a minor impact with just soft tissue injuries.
