John Dellaportas
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-4086
USA

Phone: +1 212 692 1012
Fax: +1 212 202 4866
Email: Dellajo@duanemorris.com

John Dellaportas practices in the areas of litigation, arbitration and mediation, with particular emphasis on securities and commercial litigation and intellectual property matters.

He represents clients in the areas of complex commercial litigation and arbitration, including securities, bankruptcy, antitrust, insurance and real estate matters. He has represented numerous clients in class action suits brought against them by shareholders and others. He has extensive trial experience in state and federal courts as well as in alternative dispute resolution forums such as the American Arbitration Association and the ICC Court of Arbitration.

Mr. Dellaportas also represents clients in intellectual property disputes of all kinds, including those concerning patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, rights of publicity and false advertising. In the field of patent litigation, Mr. Dellaportas has litigated matters involving diverse technologies, including chemical road deicers, electronic gaming systems, wireless communication devices and leaf blowers.

A member of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, he is admitted to practice in New York and South Carolina. Mr. Dellaportas is a 1994 graduate of Columbia University School of Law and a graduate of Yale University.

Areas of Practice

• Antitrust and Class Action Litigation
• Intellectual Property
• Commercial and Securities Litigation
• Real Estate Litigation
• Bankruptcy Matters
• Government Contracts

Representative Matters

• Represented three executives of music search-engine SeeqPod in a copyright infringement case brought against them by a group of major record labels, including Capitol Records, Virgin Records America and EMI Music. The court granted the clients' motion to dismiss the complaint against them for lack of personal jurisdiction and refused the record labels' request for discovery as to personal jurisdiction.
• Obtained dismissal of a suit alleging that a manufacturer of precision mechanics tortiously interfered with the a contract that the plaintiff had with third-party consultants by hiring the consultants to perform work that had previously been performed by the plaintiff.
• Represented leading Nasdaq market-maker named as defendant in In re Nasdaq Market-Makers Antitrust Litigation and in parallel investigations by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and NASD.
• Successfully defended four major investment firms in billion-dollar bankruptcy fraud and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits brought by competing creditor class and asbestos trust. Obtained summary judgment in favor of all four clients from Texas trial court after remand and abstention by Bankruptcy Court.
• Appointed by Judge Wood as corporate receiver for failed broker-dealer firm; successfully oversaw major settlements of corporate liabilities and collection and distribution of corporate assets. Designated as approved receiver by Commodity Futures Trading Commission and by New York State Supreme Court.
• Obtained $20 million judgment from Delaware state court for telecommunications infrastructure manufacturer in dispute with major financial services company regarding breach of asset purchase agreement.
• Acted as counsel to a leading manufacturer of chemical road deicers in a series of patent litigations and PTO proceedings. Served as co-lead counsel at Markman hearing and at trial. Obtained favorable jury verdict on all infringement, invalidity, inequitable conduct and trade secrets counts.
• Serves as outside general counsel for major bus manufacturer on all government contract matters. Successfully overturned two losing bid awards by local transit agencies, each time resulting in contract award to client worth more than $100 million.
• Represented numerous parties in disputes before AAA, ICC and JAMS arbitration panels. Recently obtained award of no damages in favor of client, a high-tech electronics company, in multimillion-dollar commercial contract dispute.
• Represented numerous health care service companies in securities class actions, qui tam suits, insurance disputes and negligence actions.
• Appointed by the New York State Supreme Court to act as Receiver for two failed apartment buildings in foreclosure.

Professional Activities

• The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
  - Member, Transportation Committee, 2006-present
  -- Committee Chair, 2010-present
  - Member, Arbitration Committee, 2004-2006
• Volunteer Arbitrator and Mediator, Civil Court of City of New York

Admissions

• New York
• South Carolina
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• U.S Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Education

• Columbia University School of Law, J.D., 1994
• Yale University, B.A. (Economics), 1991

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2003-present
  - Associate, 2001-2002
• Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, New York, New York
  - Associate, 1994-2001

Board Memberships

• Board of Managers, Liberty House Condominium, 2002-present; Vice President, 2011-present

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Chair, West Street Coalition, 2002-present

Selected Publications

• Co-Author, "Caught in the Corporate Web: Triangular Setoffs and the Cross-Border Lehman Bankruptcy," Asia Pacific Regional Forum newsletter, October 2009
• Author, "Maintaining Order in Declaratory Judgment Actions," New York Law Journal, April 3, 2006.

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Co-moderator, "After the Flood: Impact of Climate Change on Region's Transit Infrastructure," New York City Bar, February 27, 2012
• "Dispute Resolution In A Financial Crisis," AsiaLaw 4th Annual Dispute Resolution Summit, Singapore, May 12, 2009