John joined K&L Gates as Of Counsel in July 2003 and was elected Partner in 2006. His practice focuses on regulatory counseling, advocacy and environmental litigation for clients in the  maritime, cement, glass, oil & gas, electric power, iron and steel, chemical, mining and aggregate, highway and heavy construction industries.

Since joining K&L Gates, John has represented clients in a wide range of Clean Air Act matters at the state and federal level, including Title V and PSD/NSR permitting and enforcement matters.  John has also defended numerous clients in civil and administrative enforcement actions by state and federal agencies, as well as threatened citizen suits, in matters involving oil spill liability, alleged Clean Water Act NPDES and wetland compliance issues.  These matters have involved extensive compliance counseling, auditing, the prosecution of administrative appeals, and the successful resolution of disputes through the negotiation of innovative settlements and formal mediation.  John has also represented clients in appellate courts in challenges to permitting decisions and rulemakings by regulatory agencies; he has counseled oil & gas interests regarding emerging federal and state regulatory developments in Marcellus Shale jurisdictions, assisted developers to navigate complex environmental land use regulations, and supported several trade associations in the development of legislative and regulatory advocacy programs.

Prior to joining K&L Gates, John served in Washington, D.C. as the Associate General Counsel for the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  John provided legal counsel to the Administrator and other Agency decision-makers in Washington and in the Agency's ten regional offices, in connection with rulemaking, appeals and amicus participation in the Supreme Court and the federal appellate courts, defensive litigation, internal investigations and congressional oversight.  John also coordinated the Agency's legal actions with senior officials in the Office of Management and Budget, Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of Justice,  and other federal departments and agencies.

John managed a docket of diverse Clean Air, Clean Water and Superfund litigation in federal District and Circuit courts, including lawsuits seeking to compel the USEPA to regulate CO2 as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, litigation challenging Clean Air regulations, lawsuits seeking to compel the Agency to regulate ballast water under the Clean Water Act, and the availability of CERCLA contribution claims.

John also served as Counsel to the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement & Compliance Assurance for the USEPA during the transition period following the change in Presidential Administrations, and provided legal counsel regarding criminal investigations and homeland security matters following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  John counseled Agency decision-makers extensively regarding several significant CERCLA enforcement matters, including the remediation of PCB contaminated sediment in the Hudson River, and the remediation of asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana.

Before joining the USEPA, John served for 15 years in New Jersey State Government, most recently as Senior Assistant Counsel to the Governor, where for two years he provided Governor Whitman legal and policy counsel regarding environmental protection, economic development and other matters, and worked with the Legislature and the Cabinet to advance the Governors' legislative and policy priorities, including environmental infrastructure financing the recovery of natural resource damages, and water resource management.

John also served in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for seven years, first in the Office of Compliance and Enforcement, where he led the development of policies and regulations regarding compliance assistance, the voluntary disclosure and correction of violations, citizen suits, and also negotiated the resolution of several multi-party, multi-media enforcement cases; as the Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Strategic Planning, he led a department-wide strategic planning work group, served on clean air permitting and enforcement process re-engineering teams, and worked extensively with the USEPA and other state agencies to better define the respective roles of state and federal environmental regulators.

While attending law school in the evening, John served for five years as a Research Associate for the Judiciary and Environment Committees in the New Jersey General Assembly.

• Chair, Environmental Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, 2009-2010
• Vice Chair, International Law Committee, ABA Section on Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER), 2006-present
• Master, New Jersey Environmental Inn  of Court, 2006
• Received NJ State Bar Association’s 2007 Outstanding Legislative Achievement Award
• Member, Queen of Peace High School Board of Overseers
• Member, St Ann’s R.C. Church Finance Council