John Powers is a civil litigator and trial lawyer, whose clients count on him for his judgment, thoroughness, and tenacity. He routinely appears in federal and state courts, as well as arbitration, on complicated civil matters to advocate for the interests and causes of his clients, which include municipalities, business corporations, universities, and individuals. John began his legal career over 25 years ago as a federal law clerk and he has continued in private practice to be passionate about representing his client’s interests and the art and science of the practice of law. He has been honored for his body of work as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
John’s practice areas include product liability litigation, civil rights defense, Article 78 defense, construction litigation, intellectual property and trade secret litigation, and complex contractual and intra-corporate disputes of all types. John also provides ongoing counsel to his clients regarding risk management, policy development, and dispute resolution prior to the emergence of litigation.
John is a court-approved mediator for both the Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York and the New York State Unified Court System.
John previously practiced with the Arent Fox law firm, in Washington, D.C., and prior to becoming an attorney, he served on active duty in the military as a United States Army Infantry Officer.
Representative Matters
- Defended and preserved municipal police and fire minority hiring consent decree in response to Department of Justice challenge.
- National product liability defense counsel to medical device manufacturer.
- Defended university successfully in multiple student-initiated Article 78 proceedings challenging student discipline.
- Participated in the revision and rewriting of municipal police use of force policies.
- Tried and successfully defended municipal police officers in civil rights trial.
- Tried and successfully defended municipal client on Monell claim.
- Defended $9 million arbitration of a dispute over termination of an international distribution agreement.
- Court-approved mediator for Northern District of New York, mediating over 40 cases since 2014.
- Ongoing representation as outside general counsel to two inter-municipal health care cooperatives.
- Drafted inter-municipal cooperative agreements for multiple types of municipal cooperatives.
- Obtained summary judgment and defeated subsequent appeal on million-dollar delay/disruption construction claim on behalf of a municipal client.
- Obtained summary judgment and defeated subsequent appeal on behalf of the State of New York in a multi-million dollar USERRA class action.
- Tried and obtained multi-million dollar jury verdict in federal court in property damages insurance dispute where fire cause and origin was at issue.
- Obtained federal court dismissal for Minnesota manufacturing company based on personal jurisdiction challenge.
- Tried and favorably resolved wrongful death case against a municipal client.
- Obtained summary judgment for a municipal client in federal court strip search class action.
- Obtained summary judgment for a municipal client to defeat multiple race and retaliation §1983 claims by a former employee.
- Obtained dismissal of a product liability claim for a manufacturer for failure to prosecute.
- Obtained dismissal of qui tam action against municipal defendant for improper venue.
- Defeated preliminary injunction motion on behalf of individual defendants by a former employer in trade secret litigation.
- Defeated a summary judgment motion brought against a small business in a multimillion-dollar trade secret theft case.
- Obtained summary judgment for a municipal client to defeat multiple race and retaliation §1983 claims.
- Tried and obtained a defense jury verdict for a medical device manufacturer on a $26 million tortious interference action tried in federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
- Obtained a summary judgment in the Western District of Pennsylvania which dismissed multimillion-dollar antitrust claims. Successfully defended the verdict on appeal to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
- Tried and 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 a partial summary judgment on the issue of liability for a design-build contractor on a $1.3 million claim by a subcontractor on a construction project on a federal military installation.
- Tried and 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).
- Litigated various products liability cases in New York, California, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut to successful conclusion via settlement.
- Tried an EPCRA environmental penalty hearing for an energy company before an EPA administrative law judge.
- Obtained a 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 environmental liability/site remediation settlement on behalf of a manufacturer for underground 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 a summary judgment of non-infringement on a patent infringement claim brought against a New York manufacturer by a German competitor.
- Litigated Markman hearings in the Western District of Pennsylvania and the District of Colorado.
