Recent Experience

In the past three years, John has won an antitrust "bid rigging" case for a Fortune 500 company in federal court, won a product liability suit filed against another Fortune 500 company, obtained a defense judgment on behalf of a Fortune 500 company in a putative class action, and settled an arbitration for a professional sports organization.  He also successfully tried to a plaintiffs’ verdict a Consumer Protection Act claim against a real estate firm, and obtained the first class certifications in the country in class actions by (1) uninsured patients who asserted their rights to be charged reasonable rates by the two largest hospital systems in Oregon, and (2) patients of two of the largest hospital systems in Washington who challenged undisclosed disparities in hospital charges based on where they sought treatment within the hospital systems.  Those victories produced significant class action settlements and a plaintiff judgment in four hospital overcharge cases in Washington and Oregon on behalf of tens of thousands of hospital patients.

In the past, John spearheaded the defense of the tobacco industry in state Attorney General suits brought in a number of Western states, and he won a number of federal class actions by third party payors seeking to recover billions from the tobacco industry. He manages the national defense of similar suits filed by Indian tribes throughout the United States, won two such cases (brought by 46 tribes) in federal courts in New Mexico and Texas, and defeated class certification of a proposed class of all California Indian Tribes, leading to dismissal of that suit. He also obtained affirmance in the Ninth Circuit of dismissal of a nationwide class of Indian Tribes suing the tobacco industry under the civil rights laws. He also obtained summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, on a $4.6 billion damages claim brought by the Republic of the Marshall Islands against American tobacco companies. John negotiated the settlement of a multi-state class action regarding roofing products, which alleged claims in excess of $1/2 billion. He was also McDonald's lead national counsel in negotiating the settlement of multiple class actions regarding beef flavoring in french fries. He defended the largest class action (class of 20,000) in the State of Washington involving claims for property damage, nuisance and medical monitoring related to living in the vicinity of a copper smelter. He also won on summary judgment a trespass and nuisance claim for environmental contamination seeking $5 million in damages. He has represented a number of companies defending an array of common law and statutory claims associated with environmental contamination. John also has extensive experience litigating cases under the federal and state environmental laws, with particular focus on the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Superfund (CERCLA) laws. He has litigated a wide variety of class actions involving mass torts and toxic torts and has lectured extensively on the subject. In 1994, John taught an Environmental Law and Science course at Stanford Law School. He was awarded Heller Ehrman's Guggenhime Pro Bono award for outstanding commitment to pro bono work and coordinated pro bono activities for that firm's Northwest offices.

Education

Colgate University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1976); Stanford Law School (J.D., 1981). Adjunct Professor, Stanford Law School (1994).

Admissions

Washington.

Memberships and Awards: Washington State Bar Association; American Bar Association (Litigation Section, Environmental Litigation Subsection and Products Liability Subsection); King County Bar Association; Board of Trustees, Legal Foundation of Washington (2000-2003); Voted Washington SuperLawyer; recipient of Heller Ehrman's Guggenhime Pro Bono Award.

Representative Engagements:

Consumer Class Actions and Mass Tort Product Liability

• Blaylock v. First American Title Insurance Co. et al (2006-date) (representing Washington consumers in putative class action against Washington’s title insurance companies alleging that the title insurers have acted unfairly or deceptively by systematically providing illegal inducements to real estate middlemen to steer customers to them, in violation of Washington and federal law, as previously determined by the Washington Insurance Commissioner; the lawsuit asks the court to certify classes composed of all Washington consumers of each of the defendant title insurers; the federal court denied defendants’ motions to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims on August 8, 2007 in a published decision, Blaylock, ___ F. Supp. 2d ___, 2007 WL 2318143 (W.D. Wash. 2007).
   
• Pierce v. NovaStar Mortgage, Inc. (2005-2007) (represented Washington borrowers who obtained subprime mortgages from NovaStar in a certified class action challenging the lender’s practice of paying hidden premiums to brokers that increased the interest rate on the borrower’s loan.  The court made groundbreaking rulings certifying the class action and establishing that NovaStar’s failure to disclose its premium payments to brokers was unfair or deceptive under Washington law – see, e.g., Pierce, 489 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (W.D. Wash. 2007), Pierce, 238 F.R.D. 624 (W.D. Wash. 2006), and Pierce, 422 F. Supp. 2d 1230 (W.D. Wash. 2006).  Days before trial, plaintiffs obtained a class-wide settlement in which NovaStar agreed to pay $5.1 million to resolve the claims of approximately 1,600 Washington borrowers.
   
• Gibson v. Virginia Mason Medical Center (2005-2007) (represented patients of Virginia Mason Medical Center in a class action challenging Virginia Mason’s failure to disclose its practice of charging hospital fees for services at its non-hospital clinics and the large disparities in charges for the same services between its downtown and neighborhood medical clinics; obtained a judgment ordering Virginia Mason to pay full refunds to patients for the undisclosed hospital charges and requiring full and fair disclosure of its hospital charges)
   
• Block v. Providence Health System (2005-2006) (represented uninsured patients of Providence Hospitals in Oregon in a class action challenging the hospital system’s charity care and billing practices; achieved the first class action settlement of its kind in the country, obtaining refunds and future discounts for uninsured patients)
   
• Turner v. Legacy Health System (2005-2007), 2006 WL 657176 (Or. Cir. 2006)  (represented uninsured patients of Legacy Hospital System in Oregon in a class action challenging the hospital system’s charity care and billing practices; obtained a class-wide settlement resulting in substantial refunds for past charges and reductions in future charges ranging from a minimum reduction of 25% for all uninsured patients up to a 100% reduction in charges depending on each patient’s ability to pay)
   
• Davies v. Philip Morris USA, Inc. (2004-2007) (successfully defended Philip Morris in light cigarette class action, defeating plaintiffs’ motion for class certification and then successfully defending the denial of class certification in plaintiffs’ subsequent appeals to Washington Court of Appeals and Washington Supreme Court)
   
• Abbouds’ McDonald’s LLC v. McDonald’s Corp., 2006 WL 1877247 (9th Cir. 2006)(represented McDonald’s in successfully defeating a bid rigging antitrust claim by a franchisee, affirmed on appeal)
   
• The Republic of The Marshall Islands v. American Tobacco Company, No. 1997-261 (R.M.I. Supreme Court) (affirming summary judgment on $4 billion damages claim and dismissal of entire suit).
   
• Ass'n of Washington Public Hospital Dists. v. Philip Morris Inc., 241 F.3d 696 (9th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S.891 (2001) (obtained affirmance of dismissal on 12(b)(6) motion of a $1 billion dollar claim on behalf of 30 public health districts in the State of Washington)
   
• Regence Blueshield v. Philip Morris Inc., 5 Fed. Appx 651 (9th Cir. 2001), affirming 40 F. Supp. 1179 (W.D. Wash. 1999) (obtained affirmance of dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Blue Shield entities in 14 Western States seeking to recover billions in smoking-related health care costs)
   
• Oregon Laborers v. Philip Morris Inc., 7 F. Supp. 528 U.S. 1075 (2000) 2d 1170 (D.Or. 1998), aff'd, 185 F.3d 957 (9th Cir. 1999)., cert. denied, (obtained affirmance of dismissal of class action claims by Taft Hartley trust funds in excess of $1 billion)
   
• Table Bluff Reservation (Wiyot Tribe) v. Philip Morris, Inc., 256 F.3d 879 (9th Cir. 2001) (obtained affirmance of dismissal of civil rights class action brought on behalf of a putative national class of Indian tribes, asserting violation of constitutional rights and seeking to overturn the global State settlement agreement and seize a billion dollars from its proceeds)
   
• Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians v. Philip Morris Inc., No. JCCP 4042 (San Diego County Super. Ct. Jan. 10, 2001) (defeated class certification of putative class of all California Indian tribes pursuing claims under Business and Professions Code §17200 against tobacco industry)
   
• Alabama Coushatta Tribe of Texas v. American Tobacco Co., No. 1:00CV596(TH)(E.D. Tex. Aug. 31, 2001), aff'd (46 Fed. Appx 225 5th Cir. 2002) (affirmed dismissal of suit by Indian Tribe to recover smoking related costs), cert. denied, 537 U.S 1159 (2003)
   
• Acoma Pueblo v. American Tobacco Co., No. CIV 99-1040M/WWD (D.N. Mex. Jul. 30, 2001) (obtained dismissal of suit by 46 Indian tribes to recover smoking-related costs)
   
• Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe v. Philip Morris Inc. (Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribal Court) (obtained a partial dismissal of a tribe's attempt to sue for the recovery of smoking-related health care costs, and a pivotal ruling that the Tribe may not sue for the recovery of federal monies)
   
• Northwest Laborers v. Philip Morris Inc., 58 F. Supp. 2d 1211 (W.D. Wash. 1999) (appeal dismissed) (obtained summary judgment of dismissal after Judge Dwyer had certified a class of approximately 65 Taft-Hartley trust funds asserting damages of $800 Million)
   
• State of Washington v. American Tobacco Co., et al. (successfully argued two motions to dismiss special duty, unjust enrichment, and Consumer Protection Act damages and disgorgement of profits theories in attorney general health care cost recovery actions-- case settled after 9 weeks of trial on remaining claims)
   
• Sharma v. McDonald's, et al., No. 01-2-12267-3SEA (King County Superior Court) (lead counsel for McDonald's, negotiated nationwide class action settlement of suit over beef flavoring in french fries)
   
• Lund v. McDonald's, No. 01-2-28748-6 (King County Superior Court) (tried and substantially prevailed on personal injury claim by vegetarians regarding French fry consumption)
   
• American Cemwood/MacMillan Bloedel Roofing Products Class Litigation (successfully negotiated settlement of nationwide class of roof owners asserting claims in excess of $1/2 billion)

Intellectual Property Litigation

• Richard Bach and Russell Munson v. Forever Living Products (2005-2007), 473 F. Supp. 2d 1110 (W.D. Wash. 2007) and 473 F. Supp. 2d 1127 (W.D. Wash. 2007) (represented author Richard Bach and photographer Russell Munson in copyright and trademark litigation against manufacturer and distributor of health and beauty products; successfully resolved by settlement)

Environmental Litigation

• Bowers v. Southwest Air Pollution Control Authority, 103 Wash. App. 587, 1076 (2000) (obtained affirmance of first state agency decision imposing Reasonable Available Control Technology on Centralia coal-filed power plant)
   
• Franke Tobey Jones Home v. ASARCO Incorporated, (158 F.3d1236 19th 1998) (unpublished opinion) (represented respondent and obtained affirmance of a defense judgment in a $5 million environmental contamination case)
   
• Branin v. ASARCO Incorporated, 114 F.3d 986 (9th Cir. 1997) (negotiated class action settlement of 20,000 persons with claims of property damage from smelter emissions)
   
• Trustees for Alaska v. Municipality of Anchorage, 17 F.3d 1209 (9th Cir. 1994) (obtained affirmance of summary judgment in favor of the Municipality in an environmental group's citizens suit under the Clean Air Act)
   
• Simpson Tacoma Kraft v. Department of Ecology, 119 Wn.2d 640 (1992) (obtained affirmance of successful invalidation of Department of Ecology's Water Quality Standard for dioxin in the Superior Court)
   
• Louisiana-Pacific v. ASARCO Incorporated, 131 Wn.2d 587 (1997) (argued issues of first impression under the Washington State Superfund law (the Model Toxics Control Act) before the Washington Supreme Court)
   
• Friends of the Earth v. Hintz, 800 F.2d 823 (9th Cir. 1986) (obtained summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, of Clean Water Act citizens suit alleging violation of a number of environmental laws (including the National Environmental Policy Act) with respect to issuance of Section 404 dredge and fill permit)

Miscellaneous Commercial Litigation

• Ruebel v. Camano Island Realty (Island County Superior Court) (represented plaintiffs and tried to plaintiffs’ verdict a Consumer Protection Act case against real estate agents regarding non-disclosure of building permit suspension)
   
• Private arbitration representing national professional sports organization
   
• Private arbitration over 16,000 acres of timber sales
   
• Private arbitration over Native Alaskan land exchange of 100,000 acres
   
• Software licensing disputes, patent and trade secret litigation in federal court
   
• Trial of several civil rights cases, including:
  • Sharp v. Weston, 233 F.3d 1166 (9th Cir. 2000) (affirming injunction and contempt against treatment center for adjudicated dangerous sexual predators for failure to provide treatment)
  • Turay v. Anderson, 12 Fed. Appx. 618 (9th Cir. 2001) (same)
  • Cunningham v. Special Commitment Center, (56 Fed Appx. 393 (9th Cir. 2003) (same)
     
• Cascade Court Limited Partnership v. Noble, 105 Wn.App. 563, (2001) (successfully appealed Board of Tax Appeals assessment of low-income housing funded through limited partnerships - over $1 million in past taxes refunded)
   
• ITT Rayonier v. Bell, 112 Wn.2d 754 (1989) (affirmed summary judgment in leading case under Washington's adverse possession law)
   
• Oregon Natural Resources Council v. Mohla, 944 F.2d 531 (9th Cir. 1991) (obtained Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of timber company's counterclaims against environmental group resulting from environmental group's lawsuit against the Forest Service to seek further environmental review on timber sales. The counterclaims were dismissed on Noerr-Pennington grounds, establishing precedent in the 9th Circuit to discourage institution of SLAPP suits)
   
• LightHawk, The Environmental Air Force v. Robertson , 812 F. Supp. 1095 (W.D. Wash. 1993) (obtained summary judgment that Forest Service's attempt to employ its statutory right to "Smokey Bear" to prohibit environmental group from lampooning "Smokey" violates the First Amendment)
   
• Other Appellate cases argued: Sales v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 138 Wn. App. 222 (2007); Louisiana-Pacific Corp., et al. v. ASARCO Incorporated, 134 F.3d 378 (9th Cir. 1998); Wing v. ASARCO Incorporated, 114 F.3d 986 (9th Cir. 1997); Bering v. Share, 106 Wn.2d 212 (1986); Federal Way Family Physicians v. Tacoma Stands Up for Life; 106 Wn.2d 261 (1986); In Re Taylor, 105 Wn.2d 683 (1986); D. v. C., 38 Wn. App 301 (1984); ITT Rayonier v. Bell, 51 Wn. App 124 (1988)