John J. Powell is a partner in Montgomery McCracken’s Litigation Department. He handles a wide variety of complex litigation, high-stakes intellectual property, corporate and commercial disputes, and white-collar criminal, securities, and antitrust matters in federal and state courts around the country and in international arbitration. John has significant appellate experience, often serving as new counsel on appeal. He also has substantial experience litigating First Amendment cases and other constitutional issues, as well as cases involving federal administrative law and procedure.
John has represented several of the world’s largest companies, including the largest energy company, a premier consumer products company, the plastics division of a Saudi Arabian petrochemical company, and a leading distributor of prescription drugs. John has also represented clients in the financial services, computer software, health care, real estate, gaming, automotive, and heavy machinery industries, as well as individuals, including a professor at an Ivy League law school, the European CEO of a global equipment manufacturer, a cutting-edge chemical scientist, and an indigent man wrongly convicted of murder.
Before joining Montgomery McCracken, John was an associate at another prominent law firm and an analyst at a leading investment bank.
John earned a law degree from Columbia Law School and a B.A., magna cum laude, in Philosophy from Boston College. In law school, John was the president of the Columbia Alpine Society (the ski club), a member of the Columbia Journal of Tax Law, and served on the boards of the Columbia Business and Law Association and the Columbia Law Students for Social Enterprise.
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White Collar and Government Investigations
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Antitrust
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1 of 8 Credentials
Selected Representations - Representing a New York hedge fund as plaintiff, obtained emergency injunctive relief in the Southern District of New York against a former portfolio manager in Shanghai, China and Amazon Web Services, resulting in the successful recovery of computer source code and encryption keys used in the client’s quantitative trading operations.
- Successfully defended leading provider of artificial intelligence software against state-court claims for breach of contract, fraud, and misappropriation of intellectual property in the Supreme Court of New York.
- Successfully defended portfolio manager against state and federal claims arising from failed New York real estate transaction, obtaining complete dismissal.
- Representing leading medical device companies in patent infringement litigation in federal courts across the country.
- Representing leading knife manufacturer in design patent infringement litigation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Defended SEPTA in a two-day federal trial of a First Amendment challenge asserted by a news organization represented by the ACLU, resulting in a judgment upholding SEPTA’s right to prohibit political advertisements on city buses.
- As new counsel on appeal, obtained reversal of five felony convictions for unlawful use of a computer, resulting in a decision that significantly altered Pennsylvania law by requiring prosecutors to obtain expert witnesses in cases involving crimes allegedly committed over the internet.
- Defeated class action in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging fraud and professional negligence against a large accounting firm arising out of its work as administrator in a $490 million securities class action settlement. John’s briefing on complex choice of law issues resulted in the court entering summary judgment sua sponte soon after class certification.
- Defending a leading medical device company against patent infringement claims brought by a competitor in the United States District Court for the District of Utah, and in related proceedings in the Southern District of California.
- Successfully obtained full recovery for a prominent attorney in a AAA arbitration against the client’s former law firm, alleging breach of a partnership contract. John’s cross examination of the law firm’s managing partner helped secure the client’s victory.
- Successfully represented the European CEO of a global equipment manufacturer in civil and criminal investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning potential FCPA violations arising from the company’s operations in Angola, Africa. The DOJ declined to bring charges against John’s client.
- Defended directors and officers of a Fortune 25 company in shareholder derivative lawsuits.
- Represented the Board of Directors of a major corporation in derivative lawsuits and a Delaware Section 220 books and records proceedings based on the equity compensation awarded to the company’s CEO.
- Defended a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer in actions brought by private plaintiffs and two dozen state attorneys general alleging fraud related to the use of certain drug pricing metrics.
- Successfully obtained emergency injunctive relief for the minority owner of a commercial real estate brokerage firm against the majority owners on grounds of breach of contract and fiduciary duties.
- Defeated federal class action alleging fraud and breach of contract against a consortium of more than 100 U.S. law schools, related to complex transactions concerning the financing of student loans.
- Defeated claims of intellectual property theft against Autotrader.com by persuading state trial and appellate courts to apply principles of adverse possession to proprietary computer algorithms.
- Defended a global chemical manufacturer in ICC arbitration against claims of intellectual property theft asserted by a Korean manufacturing conglomerate, successfully excluding certain European affiliates from the proceedings, opposing U.S. discovery in related federal actions in Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and favorably resolving the dispute.
- Represented an international energy company in state and federal criminal investigations of environmental claims, and successfully moved to quash multiple grand jury subpoenas issued by state attorney general on the basis that the subpoenas violated the fourth amendment.
- Persuaded a federal judge in Iowa to recuse himself in a business dispute involving John’s client, a large national gaming company, because the judge previously had been affiliated with a non-profit organization connected to the dispute.
- Defended a global consumer products company in a products liability mass tort action in which a state trial court excluded plaintiffs’ expert testimony, offered by several professors of medicine, on the grounds that the scientific testing supporting the experts’ opinions lacked sufficient epidemiological rigor.
- Defeated criminal charges filed against a business executive in New York by moving to dismiss the charges and helping to secure sealed disposition of the proceedings.
- Obtained an order from a Pennsylvania trial court requiring state-of-the-art touch DNA analysis of murder evidence on the basis that the testing could prove the innocence of John’s client, a prisoner represented in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
Selected Publications - Quoted, “Paramount Sues Company Behind McDowell’s Pop-Up Citing ‘Coming to America’ Infringement,” The Wall Street Journal, August 2022
- Mentioned, “High Court Won’t Review 3rd Circ. Nix Of SEPTA Ad Policy,” Law360, October 2021
- Mentioned, “3rd Circ. Nixes SEPTA Ad Policy As Unconstitutional,” Law360, September 2020
- Mentioned, “Law360 Names Attys Who Moved Up The Firm Ranks In Q2,” Law360, August 2020
- Author, “When Expert Testimony Is Required to Prove Allegations of Online Misconduct,” PACDL For the Defense Volume 3, Issue 4, December 2018
- Mentioned, “Montgomery McCracken Snags 4 Buchanan Attys For IP Unit,” Law360, August 2018
- Mentioned, “LGBT Trailblazers Join Law Firm Montgomery McCracken,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 2018
- Mentioned, “Montgomery McCracken Launches IP Department With Buchanan Attorneys,” Legal Intelligencer, August 2018
Professional Activities - Board of Advisors, Text IQ
- Secretary and Member, Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Advocates for Innocence Board
- Former Executive Committee Member, Temple American Inn of Court
- Regional Board Member, Indego Africa
Community Involvement John maintains an active pro-bono practice. He has worked closely with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project on several wrongful conviction cases.
John also provides free legal representation to underprivileged Philadelphia residents in a wide variety of matters through the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program.
Education Law School
- Columbia University School of Law
Undergraduate School
