John S. Edwards, Jr.

Read the Lawyer Limelight Q&A with John Edwards, Jr.

John S. “Jack” Edwards, Jr. offers his clients a broad-based trial and appellate practice, handling a wide variety of civil and criminal matters in state and federal courts throughout the country. He has represented clients in antitrust, contracts, copyright, First Amendment, fraud, insurance coverage, landlord-tenant, preemption, product liability, trade secrets, toxic tort, and wrongful death cases. His criminal experience includes the representation of companies in response to state and federal grand jury subpoenas involving fraud and copyright violations. His appellate experience includes the representation of a civil rights group in seeking certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court on a First Amendment issue.

Prior to joining Ajamie LLP, Jack worked as a litigation associate for two international law firms in Houston.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Business Litigation

• Prosecuted fraud and breach-of-contract claims against a military contractor.
• Defended software companies in multibillion-dollar civil action and corresponding federal criminal complaint; case involved the collection, production, and analysis of over 10 TB of electronic data.
• Defended an engine manufacturer against multimillion-dollar fraud claims in Texas trial and appeals courts.
• Defended a refining company in rare antitrust litigation brought by the FTC to block a merger.
• Represented an energy company in prosecuting federal preemption claims against a state.
• Represented a drilling fluids company in prosecuting theft of trade secret claims.
• Represented an oil and gas company in prosecuting breach of contract claims.

Personal-Injury Litigation

• Defended an oilfield services company against claims arising from the Gulf of Mexico’s deadliest offshore oil accident; case dismissed on forum non conveniens.
• Defended an agricultural grower in thousands of toxic-tort claims brought throughout the United States, including in forum non conveniens reinstatement proceedings.
• Defended a chemicals company against benzene product liability claims.
• Defended a pharmaceutical company against prescription drug product liability claims.

Appeals

• Defended a civil rights organization in appealing a libel judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking certiorari on a unique First Amendment Petition Clause issue.
• Defended an agricultural grower in mandamus appeals to the Texas Supreme Court seeking to reverse forum-non-conveniens reinstatement of thousands of toxic-tort claims brought by foreign plaintiffs.
• Defended an engine manufacturer against fraud claims in Texas state courts, including reversing an anti-suit injunction and overturning a $93 million judgment.

Criminal

• Defended software companies in multibillion dollar civil action and corresponding federal criminal charges.
• Represented an engine manufacturer in responding to a Texas grand jury subpoena.
• Served as a volunteer prosecutor in Missouri City Municipal Court; prosecuting dozens of misdemeanors in first-chair bench and jury trials.

Pro Bono 

• Defended a civil rights organization in appealing a libel judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking certiorari on a unique First Amendment Petition Clause issue.
• Represented a client through the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program in obtaining a successful award in a landlord-tenant case after a two-day jury trial.
• Served as a volunteer prosecutor in Missouri City Municipal Court; prosecuted dozens of misdemeanors in first-chair bench and jury trials.
• Appleseed Hurricane Katrina Project, Pro Bono Volunteer
• Houston Bar Association, Legal Lines, Volunteer
• Volunteered at the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, representing death row inmates in their state and federal habeas corpus appeals.

OTHER ATTORNEY EXPERIENCE

• Jones Day
• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP

MEMBERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY

• Member, Editorial Board, American Bar Association’s Energy Litigation Journal
• Co-Chair, American Bar Association’s Energy Litigation Website Subcommittee
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, State Bar of Texas (Litigation and Appellate Sections)
• Member, Houston Bar Association
• Member, College of the State Bar of Texas
• Volunteer, Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program

DISTINCTIONS

• Texas Rising Star, Texas Super Lawyers 2013, 2014, 2015
• Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rating – An AV certification is a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank the individual to be at the highest level of professional excellence.

EDUCATION

• University of Virginia School of Law,
  J.D., 2003
• Princeton University,
  A.B., Economics, 1998

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Texas

COURT ADMISSIONS

• All Texas State Courts
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth CIrcuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations by John Edwards