John Summers litigates complex commercial disputes for clients in the financial services, technology, life science, real estate, nonprofit and manufacturing sectors.
Chair of the firm’s litigation department, John is nationally recognized in handling difficult cases involving complicated financial disputes as well as legal ethics issues. He litigates a wide range of matters, including complex contract, joint venture, corporate, partnership and non-compete disputes, as well as ERISA and class actions. His clients describe him as “knowledgeable and responsive” (Chambers USA). John’s insights and experience make him a valuable counselor as well a skilled, hands-on and tenacious trial and appellate lawyer, experienced before state and federal courts, as well as arbitration panels. Regionally, he has been recognized as the Philadelphia Litigator of the Year in ERISA (2017, 2022) and Real Estate Litigation (2024).
For more than 30 years, John has been involved legal ethics issues, representing lawyers in a range of transactional, malpractice and professional matters. He has complemented experience with counseling and representing Pennsylvania state trial judges for more than a dozen years as a Solicitor to the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges. Over the years, John has also served as a member and chair for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board, chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Committee, and a former member of the Association’s Professional Guidance Committee.
John is also a leader of the pro bono and not for profit community. He is a member of the Board of the Education Law Center and was a First Vice President of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, and served as Board President of Children First (formerly PCCY), a children’s advocacy organization. John also guided Reinvestment Fund (RF), a nationally recognized community development finance institution, serving as Board Chair for six years and member of the Board for twenty years. He and a team of HASPS lawyers have also filed a series of amicus briefs, on behalf of a leading anti-torture advocacy organization and law professors, arguing that torture derived evidence is inadmissible under United States and international law at all stages of the proceedings against a defendant.
Within the firm John is a mentor for associates and younger partners, frequently joining with them to write articles and thought pieces. He is a big believer in the virtues of actually meeting in person — around the round table in his office — to absorb his colleagues’ insights and guide the litigation or counseling matter.