John E. Stephenson, Jr.
Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
John E. Stephenson, Jr. is a trial lawyer and represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial litigation, including litigation arising from mergers and acquisitions, financial services transactions, intellectual property rights, and agency and fiduciary relationships. He also has substantial experience in corporate governance and financial fraud investigations. Mr. Stephenson served on the executive committee for the Enron Examination, where his leadership responsibilities included investigating and reporting on the roles of Enron’s financial institutions, officers and directors, and accounting professionals. This investigation resulted in the identification of more than $7 billion in potential claims against these parties and others. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers magazine, Georgia Legal Elite: Georgia’s Most Effective Lawyers for his plaintiffs’ practice, The International Who’s Who of Commercial Litigators, and Who’s Who Legal: Georgia 2007 for commercial litigation, where he was one of only eight Georgia trial lawyers selected for inclusion.
Mr. Stephenson maintains a national practice and serves as lead counsel in complex litigation on behalf of public and private companies and individuals throughout the country. His international litigation experience includes cases against one of the largest state-owned corporations in the People’s Republic of China, litigation against Saudi Arabian financial institutions, the representation of the CEO of one of the largest financial institutions in Europe, and mass disaster litigation in Nova Scotia, Nairobi, Kenya and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Mr. Stephenson also leads the firm’s plaintiffs’ litigation practice and represents plaintiffs in a wide range of complex business litigation, wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases, including aviation disasters. Since 2000, the plaintiffs’ litigation practice has obtained more than $2 billion in verdicts and settlements on behalf of corporate and individual clients.
Mr. Stephenson is a frequent lecturer on trial advocacy techniques, jury selection, ethics and professionalism, accountant liability, spoliation of evidence, electronic data retrieval, business tort litigation and appellate practice and procedure.
Overview
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, J.D., graduated 1984
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, BA, graduated 1981
- Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
- American Bar Association - Member
- American Trial Lawyer’s Association - Member
- Old Warhorse Lawyer’s Club - Member
- University of North Carolina School of Law - Board Member
- University of North Carolina undergraduate college - Alumni Advisor
- Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
- American Bar Association - Member
- American Trial Lawyer’s Association - Member
- Old Warhorse Lawyer’s Club - Member
- University of North Carolina School of Law - Board Member
- University of North Carolina undergraduate college - Alumni Advisor
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, J.D., graduated 1984
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, BA, graduated 1981
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
- Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar
- Complex Litigation
- In 2005, Mr. Stephenson was honored by the ACLU for his pro bono representation of plaintiffs in civil rights litigation
- In 2006, he received the Outstanding Service Award from the Stonewall Bar Association for his work on equal rights litigation
News & Media
Case History
- Experience
- Counsel for the Enron Examiner, with lead responsibility for investigating and reporting on the roles of the financial institutions, accountants, and officers and directors in Enron’s bankruptcy. This examination identified more than $7.0 billion in potential claims against these parties and others.
- Counsel for the CEO of Credit Lyonnais in connection with criminal and civil matters pending in Paris, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC arising from the acquisition of a $3.5 billion bond portfolio from Executive Life, a California insurance company. All material witnesses were French nationals and trial testimony was taken in the Palais de Justice in Paris before a French judge.
- Counsel for WebMD in cutting-edge privacy litigation in the Eastern District of North Carolina arising from the multibillion-dollar acquisition of the world’s largest medical claims clearinghouse.
- Counsel for a public company in the re-negotiation, workout and litigation of technology-driven strategic relationships, equity investments, service agreements and related business relationships involving hundreds of millions of dollars in claims and equity holdings with current and former business partners in the U.S. and abroad, including matters in California, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Washington and the U.K.
- Part 2
- Counsel for multi-national corporation in substantial international business tort litigation against the procurement arm for the People’s Liberation Army in the People’s Republic of China, relating to the manufacture and global sale of surplus military weaponry. Case discovery included depositions in Beijing, China, and the tracing of international funds transactions through off-shore banking and re-insurance companies in the Cayman Islands.
- Counsel for major financial institutions in restructuring, workout and litigation relating to billions of dollars in structured financing transactions.
- Counsel for plaintiffs in numerous complex business disputes, as well as wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases, including cases arising from aviation and marine disasters, resulting in the recovery of more than $100 million for his clients.
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