John is a shareholder in Cooper & Walinski, where he has practiced since 1981 and served on the Board of Directors for several years. John works primarily in the area of civil litigation in federal and state courts, both at the trial and appellate levels. His practice includes litigation involving insurance coverage disputes and contractual indemnity disputes arising from merger and acquisition agreements. John is an active member of the firm’s Insurance Practice Group and Tort Litigation Group. He has given seminar presentations on insurance-related topics for several organizations, including at the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI conference in Chicago in 2001.

Before joining the firm, John served as a law clerk to the Honorable Don J. Young, United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.  John served in that position from 1979 to 1981.   

In the insurance context, John has participated as counsel for corporate policyholders in some significant coverage cases.  Most recently, he served as counsel for one of the corporate policyholders in the case of Pilkington North America, Inc. v. Travelers Cas. & Surety Co., 112 Ohio St.3d 482 (2006), a case followed closely by insurance litigators and writers across the country.  John also counsels corporate and individual clients on the availability of insurance coverage in a variety of contexts.  In the contractual indemnity context, John served as counsel in significant indemnity disputes between corporate buyers and sellers in acquisition/divestiture agreements over responsibility for liabilities arising from pre-acquisition events.  Those cases include TRINOVA Corp. v. Pilkington Bros. PLC, 70 Ohio St.3d 271 (1994); Unisys Corp. v. TRINOVA Corp., 1997-98 AAA Commercial Arbitration (New York).

John is active in the Toledo Bar Association.  He currently serves on the Federal Court Committee and for several years was a member of the Certified Grievance Committee.  He has given several presentations in Toledo and Columbus on litigation, insurance and ethics topics. 

John received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in 1976 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and received a law degree magna cum laude from The University of Toledo in 1979.  He was the Note and Comment Editor of The University of Toledo Law Review.  While a first-year student at the University of Toledo College of Law, John placed first in the 1977 Charles Fornoff Intraschool Moot Court competition, with the finals being argued before a panel of judges which included Justice Potter Stewart of the United States Supreme Court.

Professional Memberships:

• Toledo Bar Association - including Federal Court Committee
• Ohio State Bar Association

Representative Cases:

• TRINOVA Corp. v. Pilkington Bros. PLC, 70 Ohio St.3d 271 (1994) (indemnity dispute under corporate reorganization)
• Unisys Corp. v. TRINOVA Corp. (1997-98) AAA Commercial Arbitration (New York) (indemnity for environmental liabilities under acquisition agreement)
• Pilkington North America, Inc. v. Travelers Cas. & Surety Co., 112 Ohio St.3d 482 (2006) (successor's right to insurance coverage for environmental liabilities)
• Donna Mae Schroeder, et al. v. Auto-Owners Insurance Co., et al., 2004 Ohio 5667; 2004 Ohio App. LEXIS 5124, review denied; 105 Ohio St.3d 1464 (underinsured motorist coverage under auto insurance policy)

Speaking Engagements:

• Speaker on various litigation, insurance and ethics topics