For more than 20 years, John has been providing legal counsel to individuals and companies throughout Florida. John handles a wide variety of matters, ranging from defending construction accident and defect cases on behalf of contractors and sub-contractors, and premises liability cases for two nationally known property owners and managers. He has also litigated cases involving rental car companies and the application of the Graves Amendment. During his career, John has also handled product liability and negligent security claims and issues.
Before coming to Marshall Dennehey, John was the managing attorney for the Jacksonville office of the defense firm Conroy, Simberg, Ganon, Krevans & Abel, P.A., where he oversaw that office's liability division and defended all types of personal injury and construction claims.
Significant Representative Matters
· Defense verdict where plaintiff was ejected from a scissor lift on a construction sight due to the alleged gross negligence of our client. The plaintiff made a demand of $2 million. The plaintiff was challenging Florida's recently enacted Horizontal Immunity law, which provides for immunity to a sub-contractor for claims made by an employee of another subcontractor on a construction site. This was reportedly the first case in Florida tried to verdict under this new law.
· Dismissal of claims brought by a defendant/third party plaintiff for subrogation, common law indemnification, and contractual indemnification against the plaintiff's employer for alleged negligent hiring, training, and supervision of the plaintiff and another employee when they were hooking a tractor to a trailer. As the truck was backing up, the truck engine surged backward, pinning the plaintiff's leg and causing him to lose most of his leg.
· Dismissal with prejudice of an automobile negligence injury claim brought by a husband and wife against a nationally recognized rental car company where the renter of the car caused the accident which injured the plaintiff. The court dismissed the vicarious liability portion of the case against the rental car company based upon the Graves Amendment, which limits the amount of certain claims and precludes others from being brought against rental car companies.
· Obtained a ruling limiting the plaintiff's damages in a catastrophic injury case where the plaintiff was a passenger in a single vehicle accident. The driver was a non-authorized driver of the rental vehicle. The case and damages against a nationally recognized rental car company were limited to the $10,000 provided for under the Graves Amendment.
Published Works
· "Florida's Immunity Defenses for Worksite Accidents," Florida Professional Liability and Ethics Law Letter, April 2008
· "Is the Greathouse Case Really Great?," Defense Digest, June 2008
Classes/Seminars Taught
· Conducted various seminars to clients on the following topics: construction-related issues involving applicable immunities, common law and contractual indemnification, automobile and premises liability claims, punitive damages, and bad faith, 2004 - present
· Speaker, Legal Writing Seminar, Florida Legal Assistants and Paralegals, 2008
Associations & Memberships
· Defense Research Institute
· Florida Defense Lawyers Association
· Jacksonville Bar Association
· Jacksonville Defense Lawyers Association
· National Italian-American Lawyers Association
Year Joined Organization: 2007
Fraternities/Sororities
· Phi Alpha Delta
Publications
Know Your Licenses
Articles · December 1, 2011
Construction Today, December 2011
As a General Contractor, What Licenses Do You Really Need?
Defense Digest Article · March 1, 2011
Florida - Construction , Key Points: Does a general contractor need more then just a building license? Potential liability issues or exposure for a GC actually doing work on a job site without the appropriate license..., Defense Digest, Vol. 17, No. 1, March 2011
2009 Changes to Florida Statute 558 et. al.
Law Alerts · April 1, 2010
Florida has a notice and Right to Repair statute, F.S. 558, et seq, which was first promulgated in 2003. The Legislature enacted this statute to allow for the notification of potential construction defect claims prior to litigation. It also gave the..., Case Law Alert - 2nd Qtr 2010