Attorneys

John G. Powers

John Powers represents a wide range of clients including publically and privately-held corporations, manufacturers, municipalities, general contractors, lenders, agri-businesses and small and large businesses of all types, providing both counsel and advocacy to assist these clients with dispute avoidance and resolution.

In addition to advice and counsel, Mr. Powers has litigated contract, tort and statutory claims in federal court, state court, as well as before administrative tribunals and arbitration panels. Mr. Powers has served as first-chair trial counsel for numerous jury and bench trials in federal and state court in multiple states, as well as in numerous arbitrations. Mr. Powers also mediates commercial disputes and has been selected as one of the approved mediators for the Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York. Mr. Powers also serves as local counsel to major law firms in other areas of the country, who find themselves in litigation in Upstate New York.

Mr. Powers previously practiced law in Washington D.C. for Arent Fox LLP, as well as servingas a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Frederick J. Scullin, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Mr. Powers served for five years on active duty in the Army as an Infantry Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Operations Officer in several infantry units earning Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault qualification, as well as the Combat Infantryman's Badge.

Recent Representative Experience

• Obtained a defense jury verdict for a medical device manufacturer on $26 Million tortious interference action tried in federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
• Obtained a defense jury verdict for a municipality in an Equal Pay Act action tried in federal court in the Northern District of New York.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction in federal court on behalf of an energy industry manufacturer to prevent a competitor from utilizing misappropriated technical information obtained from a prior employee.
• Obtained partial summary judgment on the issue of liability for a design-build contractor on a $1.3 million claim by a sub-contractor on a construction project on federal military installation.
• Obtained a defense jury verdict for an individual defendant in a sexual harassment action tried in federal court in the Northern District of New York
• Obtained voluntary dismissal of a products liability claim brought against a medical device manufacturer in a wrongful death action venued in Arizona.
• Tried an EPCRA environmental penalty hearing for an energy company before an EPA. administrative law judge.
• Obtained dismissal on behalf of a New York manufacturer of a contract/tort action brought by a Washington distributor in federal court in the Western District of Washington.
• Negotiated a $500,000 environmental liability/site remediation settlement on behalf of a manufacturer for a groundwater contamination in Florida
• Arbitrated a $6.6 million intra-corporate dispute on behalf of a municipal health care cooperative.
• Obtained a Yellowstone injunction for a landfill gas recovery and power generation company preventing a municipality from terminating a landfill gas use leasehold.
• Obtained summary judgment of non-infringement on a patent infringement claim brought against New York manufacturer by a German competitor.
• Litigated Markman Hearings in the Western District of Pennsylvania and the District of Colorado

Admitted to Practice

• New York
• District of Columbia
• United States District Court (NDNY, SDNY, EDNY, WDNY, D.C.)
• United States Court of Appeals (Second Circuit, Federal Circuit)
• United States Supreme Court

Professional Activities

• Northern District of New York Federal Court Bar Association (Co-Chair Federal Practice Committee)
• Selected for New York Super Lawyers ® 2007, 2008 & 2009
• New York State Bar Association
• Onondaga County Bar Association
• Member Association of General Contractors of New York State
• Adjunct Professor, Communications Law, Syracuse University, Newhouse School of Communications, Fall Semester 2006

Education

• Syracuse University College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude) 1996
  • Syracuse Law Review
  • Order of the Coif
  • George and Evelyn Marcus Award Recipient
  • Justinian Honor Society, President
• Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (M.P.A.) 1996
• United States Military Academy at West Point (B.S.) 1988

Pro Bono/Volunteer Activities

• Chair of Onondaga County Bar Association Veteran's Pro Bono Project and Veteran's Legal Clinic
• Member of Board of Directors of ARC of Onondaga (Chair of Community Residential Services Committee)
• Past Board President and Board Member of McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center
• Member of CNY Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)
• Chair of 25th Congressional District Veteran's Advisory Committee
• Lacrosse Coach, Eastwood Youth Lacrosse

Speaking Engagements:

• Key Issues in Managing Construction Claims and Disputes - Lorman Presentation, June 2009
• An Overview of the Formation and Governance of Municipal Health Consortiums under Article 5-G of the New York General Municipal Law -- Cornell and OCM Boces Symposium, 2007
• Electronic Discovery in Civil Litigation: Coping with the 2006 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, NDNY FCBA Presentation, 2006
• The Creation and Exclusion of Warranties under the New York Uniform Commercial Code, OCBA Commercial Law Section Presentation 2006
• Panelist – Risk Management Seminar, CNY Medtech Presentation, 2006
• Panelist -- Ethics and Professionalism from the Judicial Perspective for Attorneys Who Practice in Federal and State Courts, NDNY FCBA Presentation, 2005
• Technology and Modern Civil Litigation Electronic discovery and the Effective use of Courtroom Technology -- PART III Use of Courtroom Technology At Trial, NDNY FCBA Presentation, 2004
• Federal Practice Series CLE Program - Dispositive Motions and their relationship to CM/ECF, December 2003.
• Federal Practice Series CLE Program - Dispositive and NonDispositive Motions – Onondaga County Bar Association, December 2002
• Federal Practice Series CLE Program - Motions to Remand – Onondaga County Bar Association, May 2002
• Federal Practice Series CLE Program Federal Motion Practice – Rule 12, Onondaga County Bar Association, February 2001

Published Articles:

• Planning for Forum Selection in Commercial Transactions, New York State Bar Association Journal, Vol. 78, No. 2 (NYSBA Feb. 2006)
• Federal Preemption of State Tort Suits Available for "PMA" Medical Devices, Legal Backgrounder, Vol. 20, No. 20 (WLF May 6, 2005)
• Sexual Harassment: To What Extent Need the Conduct be Sexual in Nature, NY Litigator, Vol. 8, No. 1 (NYSBA Winter 2003)

Born

• Corpus Christi, Texas