Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2022 
John DeGroote is a former global company general counsel who has mediated and arbitrated complex and significant commercial and business disputes nationwide since 2013. Having served as outside counsel, chief litigation counsel, general counsel, company president, and corporate director, he understands the legal, business, and practical decisions that often determine whether a case settles or not.
As a mediator, John has been named the Lawyer of the Year for Mediation in Dallas/Fort Worth by Best Lawyers in both 2027 and 2024 and has been selected to the Lawdragon 500 Hall of Fame. He is a member of the National Association of Distinguished Neutrals as both a mediator and an arbitrator and a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators. As an arbitrator, John has been a member of the AAA’s National Roster of Commercial Arbitrators since 2016 and has served as arbitrator in more than 100 matters.
Before beginning his ADR practice, John served in legal and executive leadership roles with KPMG Consulting (later BearingPoint), where he was Chief Litigation Counsel, General Counsel, and later President. Earlier in his career, he practiced with McKool Smith and Jackson Walker and held in-house positions with First USA and Paymentech.
John has chaired the ADR Sections of both the State Bar of Texas and the Dallas Bar Association and is a past Chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s National Litigation Committee and the Duke Law School Alumni Association Board of Directors.
John earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1990 and his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University in 1986. He completed mediation training through Pepperdine University's Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and arbitration training through the American Arbitration Association.
