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JohnLangan

He | Him | His

Chair

"The best course of action comes from synthesizing the widest array of ideas from the most diverse pool of talent."

Overview

Biography

John served as managing partner of the firm for 20 years, stepping down in 2021 as part of a partner-approved succession plan. During his tenure, the firm grew from 60 to nearly 300 attorneys, with some of the firm’s most strategic practice areas reaching national prominence. John’s work with lateral partner recruitment and integration involved overseeing 11 separate firm-to-firm combinations ranging in size from 15 to 60 attorneys, and including deals with Saperston & Day, Damon Morey, Menter Rudin, and Gilberti Stinziano, among other respected firms. During his tenure, he also recruited and integrated more than a dozen large group deals involving attorneys deciding to leave regional competitors and national firms to join Barclay Damon. Most recently, John led a team that successfully recruited a 20-attorney group from LeClairRyan, which enhanced the firm’s major market offices in New York City and Boston and established a new 12-lawyer office in New Haven, Connecticut. The lateral program’s success has come from an innovative onboarding system and personal commitment by senior leadership to attorney practice, client, and cultural integration, which John helped develop and oversee. This program has resulted in a unique track record of retention of lateral partners at Barclay Damon who expand their practices and ascend to leadership positions after joining the firm, as compared to recent statistics of 75 percent lateral deal failure experienced by most US law firms. All together, the transformative impact of the 20-year growth strategy has created a seamless and stable platform of high-performing offices in midsize and major market cities across the Northeastern United States and Toronto.

John now serves in the newly created position of chair, reporting to the managing partner and focusing on continued growth of the firm’s major market offices, managing some of the firm’s largest client relationships, and driving select, strategic initiatives appointed by the firm’s Management Committee.

In his legal practice, John capitalizes on his experience as a former Wall Street project finance lawyer and trial lawyer at a leading New York firm. He serves a large roster of corporate and individual clients in disputes involving white-collar and corporate fraud and complex  commercial litigation matters in both state and federal court.

Bar Associations

  • Northern District of New York Federal Court Bar Association, Judicially Appointed Organizing Member, Founding Trustee, and Former President
  • Onondaga County Bar Association, Member and Former Board of Directors Member
  • New York State Bar Association, Insurance Committee Member

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

  • Merit Selection Panel for Appointment and Reappointment of US Magistrate Judge, Judicially Appointed Chair
  • Merit Selection Panel for Appointment and Reappointment of US Magistrate Judge, Judicially Appointed Member
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Served as lead counsel in a number of high-profile cases investigating and prosecuting fraud and employee theft for publicly traded and privately held companies, including a CFO embezzlement scheme for a public energy equipment manufacturer, multiple vendor and employee theft cases for a public utility, and controller defalcation of financial records for a large, privately held medical device manufacturer.
  • Served as secondary counsel in a New York City case involving a scheme by a group of employees to defraud their company during a leveraged buyout of a national publishing house.
  • Handled multiple matters pursuing civil claims and criminal referrals for premium theft and conversion by insurance agents on behalf of national insurance companies.
  • Handled numerous theft-of-trade-secret cases testing the validity and scope of restrictive covenants in business contracts, including representing a regional construction equipment supplier, a technology-based manufacturer of residual gas analyzers and particle detectors, and an energy marketing company.
  • Prevailed as lead counsel in a well-publicized breach-of-contract dispute between two major New York public utilities over operating rights to the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit Two.
  • Obtained a permanent injunction on behalf of a New York State power authority against a real estate developer over easement rights related to a major transmission and distribution line.
  • Prosecuted a breach-of-contract claim on behalf of New York State over issues related to a gaming facility operator.
  • Prosecuted and defended numerous businesses related to Lanham Act claims, including defending an Indiana corporation engaged in the manufacture of Adirondack chairs against claims of trademark and trade dress infringement, prosecuting claims of trademark infringement for a foundation protecting the well-known Roycroft arts-and-crafts trade name and marks, representing a regional tanning-bed company in protection of its trade name, and representing a regional grocery store in the New York City area against misuse of its name and mark.
  • Represented a national entertainment company in prosecuting claims of copyright infringement related to the Batman film series.
  • Defended a prominent Upstate New York municipality in an Article 78 challenge to the issuance of a special permit for the siting and construction of an urgent-care hospital.
  • Represented majority and minority shareholders in corporate shareholder disputes in a wide range of industries, including construction, loan financing, insurance, and investment advising, and in a shareholder dispute involving New York City’s Bronx Terminal Market.
  • Successfully defended a British roofing-systems manufacturing company at trial against products liability claims before a South Carolina jury.

Prior Experience

  • Barclay Damon LLP, Managing Partner
  • Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Managing Partner
  • Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Partner
  • Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Associate
  • Whitman & Ransom, Associate
  • Hawkins Delafield & Wood, Associate
  • Hawkins Delafield & Wood, Summer Associate

Selected Community Activities

  • Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County Family Law Clinic, Volunteer
  • Syracuse Say Yes to Education, Volunteer
  • Colgate University SophoMORE Connections Alumni Network, Volunteer
  • Colgate University “A Day in a Life” Program, Participant
  • Syracuse City Rescue Mission, Volunteer

Selected Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Commercial Litigation, 2024
  • City & State, Western New York Power 100 List, 2021
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York: Business Litigation, 2018; Commercial Litigation and Energy, 2008 and 2010–2017
  • Capital District Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee and New York State Bar Association, Ray of Hope Award, October 2008
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated for Very High to Preeminent Ethical Standards and Legal Ability
Knowledge

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • NYS Appellate Division Admissions Ceremony, “Disruptive Forces in the Legal Profession and Opportunities for New Market Entrants,” Keynote Speaker
  • Thomson Reuters 19th Annual Law Firm Leaders Pre-Conference Workshop, Panelist
  • Business & Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, “The Expert Down the Hall”
  • Commercial Litigation CLE Series: The Client’s Perspective of Business Litigation, “Advice From the Experts: Successful Strategies for Winning Commercial Cases in New York State Courts”
  • Syracuse University College of Law, “Corporate Counsel & Litigation Management Course” Periodic Guest Speaker

Selected Media

  • Law360, “Creating Barclay Damon: Lessons From a Law Firm Merger”
  • Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, "Law Firm Staffing"
    • The chapter addresses traditional notions of leverage and the use of junior attorneys; contract and contingent attorneys; staffing decisions as part of legal process outsourcing (LPO); the impact on law firm staffing of the make or buy decision; and promoting inclusion and diversity in law firm staffing decisions.
  • Law360, “Why Midsize Firms Run the Gamut on Diversity”
  • Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts, Fifth Edition, “Career and Practice Development” Chapter Co-Author
  • Central New York Business Journal, "Onondaga County Bar Association Honors Barclay Damon's Langan With Distinguished Lawyer Award"

Selected Alerts & Blog Posts

Featured Media

Alerts

NYS Siting Board Grants Developer's Petition for Relief From County's Unreasonable Delay

Alerts

Horseback Rider Assumes Risk of "Green Broke" Horse

Alerts

New York Adult Survivors Act Set to Expire

Alerts

NYS Appellate Court Reverses in Favor of Policyholder in Ensuing Loss Case

Alerts

Temporary Health Care Staffing Agencies Can No Longer Charge for Hiring Their Personnel

Alerts

The First Department Addresses When a Party Is Entitled to Treble Damages Pursuant to Judiciary Law §487

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