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Attorney Profiles

John M. Heffernan 
Cleveland, Ohio,
Associate
phone(216) 912-3802
fax(216) 344-9006
emailjmheffernan@mdwcg.com

John Heffernan focuses his practice on the defense of professional liability claims brought against attorneys, accountants, architects, engineers, broker-dealers and other professionals.   John also has extensive experience defending corporate clients in complex commercial cases and has defended Fortune 500 companies in a variety of matters including multi-party securities, commercial, products liability and intellectual property cases.  John has tried numerous matters as lead counsel in both state and federal courts across the United States. His extensive trial experience across a range of corporate and technical areas, makes him particularly well-suited to the complex issues that arise in professional liability and commercial litigation.

In 1989 John graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and obtained his Juris Doctorate degree in 1996 from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.  John is admitted to practice before the Supreme Courts of Ohio and Illinois and is also admitted to practice before numerous United States District and Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Significant Representative Matters

  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of Cleveland law firm and associated lawyers with respect to a malpractice claim arising from the firm's representation of former client before the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals.  Former client sought in excess of $1,000,000 in damages.

  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of Cleveland accounting firm and associated accountants with respect to professional negligence claim arising from former client's allegation that accountants should have discovered employee defalcation and embezzlement.  Former client sought in excess of $1,500,000 in damages.

  • Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an international Wall Street brokerage firm and its broker in a $5,500,000 securities case.

  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of an international insurance company and its registered representative in a $4,500,000 variable annuity case.

  • Defended a multi-national oil refiner and its various related entities in a $54,000,000 bad-faith pricing, breach-of-contract and fraud case brought by 50 of the defendant's Cleveland retail dealers. This case resulted in a grant of summary judgment in the defendant's favor that was later successfully argued and affirmed on appeal.

  • Defended an international consumer products manufacturer in a multi-million dollar patent infringement and theft of trade secret case resulting in a favorable verdict representing less than one-quarter of plaintiff's settlement demand.

  • Defended a multi-million dollar patent infringement case on behalf of an international pharmaceutical company resulting in a successful denial of plaintiff patentee's motion for preliminary injunction.

  • Defended a major newspaper in a $1,400,000 premises liability case to a defense jury verdict.

  • Defended a national insurance company in a $750,000 accidental death case to defense jury verdict.

  • Defended a Big Three automaker in various breach of warranty and fraud cases to defense jury verdicts.
    • Year Joined Organization:
    2009
    Areas of Practice:
    Professional Negligence and Malpractice
    Commercial Litigation
    Intellectual Property Litigation
    Business Litigation
    Construction Litigation
    Federal Civil Practice
    Appellate Practice
    Bar Admissions:
    Illinois, 1995
    Ohio, 1996
    U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio
    U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio
    U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois
    U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois
    U.S. District Court Central District of California
    Education:
    Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio, 1995
    J.D.


    University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1989
    B.A.


    Professional Associations and Memberships:
    American Bar Association


    Ohio State Bar Association


    Illinois State Bar Association


    Languages:
    French
    Italian

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