John P. McShea, III

John P. McShea, III

Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

JMcShea3@eastburngray.com

Phone: (215) 345-7000

Fax: (215) 345-9142

Web: www.eastburngray.com

Practice Areas

Litigation

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Biography

John McShea has more than 40 years’ experience in civil litigation and in advising clients regarding strategies to avoid litigation. He has represented clients involved in a wide array of disputes, including post-employment restrictive covenants, professional liability, product liability, intellectual property, business divorces, and general contract and business torts. He has represented billionaires and individuals of modest means, construction companies, lawyers and law firms, publicly-traded corporations, and privately-owned local businesses. Although he appears mainly in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania, John has represented clients in courts in California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, and Texas.

John has tried (not just litigated) civil cases in state and federal courts, represented clients in commercial arbitrations, and argued appeals in both state and federal courts. He successfully defended four cases in which the client faced a “bet-the-company” risk. He has defended clients accused of patent infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, manufacturing defective products, legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and fraud. He obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a company sued for more than $275 million in a nationwide class action involving claims of false advertising, and he obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a company sued for more than $43 million for stock conversion. He obtained a substantial verdict for client who purchased a structurally unsound historic building based on a seller’s misrepresentations; a seven-figure judgment and permanent injunction for a client against individuals who stole the client’s proprietary information and infringed its trademark; substantial awards for attorneys against their dishonest former law partner; as well as multi-million-dollar verdicts for two clients in personal injury actions. John’s list of trials does not include hundreds of cases that did not require a trial because of favorable settlements and pretrial rulings.

For more than 27 years before joining Eastburn and Gray, John managed a Philadelphia litigation firm that was often entrusted to represent clients of large law firms when faced with a conflict of interest, represented two large power generation companies as regional trial counsel, and served as local counsel for clients of prominent national law firms. Before co-founding his own firm, John was a partner at Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott (1994-1998) and Hoyle, Morris & Kerr (1986-1994). He began his law career at Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell & Hippel.

Memberships

John is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL). He served for two years as that organization’s Vice-Chair of the Pennsylvania State Committee, and volunteered as part of the ACTL’s Summer Mentorship Program working with first-generation law students.

Bar Admission

John is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, and has been admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Education

John received his law degree in 1981 from Georgetown University Law Center, receiving at graduation a commendation for distinguished achievement in advocacy. He received his bachelor's degree in 1977 from Georgetown University, receiving the Lambert H. Spronck Medal, awarded to a member of the college’s senior class for combining good scholarship with significant contributions to extracurricular activities. He wrote his senior thesis on Frank Rizzo, and he was the captain of the men’s heavyweight crew.

Honors and Awards

Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell.