John has more than two decades of experience in employee benefits and compensation law, working to negotiate corporate acquisition and employment agreement terms and advising clients in corporate, tax, and securities matters.
Prior to joining Cozen O'Connor, John worked at Silicon Valley firms and as a solo attorney and most recently was a partner at a national firm based in the Mountain West. In this role, he advised and negotiated employee benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions, including equity compensation and executive agreements, Code Section 280G, retirement plans, and Code Section 409A compliance. He also guided clients on equity and incentive compensation plan design, tax considerations, and market practices, and advised executives on compensation and tax considerations for executive employment agreements.
John’s experience includes more than 10 years as an associate in the employee benefits and compensation groups in two prestigious law firms, where he negotiated and advised clients on benefits issues in corporate mergers and acquisitions, and counseled on compliance with tax and securities laws, including Rule 701 and Code Section 409A. He also negotiated transaction terms for employee benefits, counseled on pension and welfare plan operations, and drafted employment agreements, equity plans, and deferred compensation plans. Starting his career, he was an associate at a prominent Richmond-based international law firm, handling tax matters for qualified and non-qualified employee benefit plans.
From 1987 to 1994, John was a U.S. Coast Guard officer based in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. As a pilot and aircraft commander, he executed search and rescue, law enforcement, pollution response, ice patrol, and medical evacuation missions domestically and internationally, including service in Operation Desert Storm.
John earned his J.D. in 1998 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an articles review editor for The Virginia Tax Review. He was also a legal intern for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in Washington, D.C. John graduated cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley in 1986, where he received his B.A. in comparative literature.
In addition to practicing law, John enjoys baking bread, cooking, fly fishing, beekeeping, and hiking in his free time.