John L. Filippone
John L. Filippone counsels on mergers and acquisitions, hostile takeovers, proxy contests, public offerings and private placements, private equity and venture capital, going private transactions, special committee advice, and general corporate and securities law matters.
Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, John was a partner at another international law firm, where he was co-chair of the southern California regional hiring committee and a member of the firm’s compensation committee.
John is co-leader of the firm’s Los Angeles corporate and business transactions practice.
- Nippon Life Americas, Inc. and its parent, Nippon Life Insurance Company, in an investment of up to $3.8 billion in the TCW Group, Inc., a global asset management firm
- Olympus Corporation, a global manufacturer of optical and digital precision technology, as US counsel in the $3.1 billion sale of its scientific instruments business to Bain Capital
- Longroad Energy Holdings, LLC, a renewable energy company focused on wind, solar, and storage project development, operating assets, and services, in its $500 million equity capital raise completed in October 2022
- Corridor Capital in the sale of Nationwide Property & Appraisal Services, a national technology-enabled appraisal management and valuation services company that is the second largest independent appraisal management company in the US, to Arcapita
- An investor group in its investment in NLP, a land acquisition and sales and marketing company specializing in large residential parcels
- SPM Group, a portfolio company of Corridor Capital, in its acquisition of Dreamscape Marketing, a company that focuses on digital marketing of healthcare services and organization
- Corbel Capital Partners in its investment in Wynden Stark, LLC, a technology-enabled talent acquisition and staffing advisory firm which utilizes machine learning/artificial intelligence to place mission-critical talent within higher education STEMM fields
- Centroid Systems, a cloud services and technology company, in its sale to VSS
- Corridor Capital in its acquisition of Create & Cultivate, LLC, an online platform and offline conference for women looking to create and cultivate their careers
- Corridor Capital in its investment in World Wide Land Transfer, a tech-enabled, leading, full-service, independent title and settlement services agency
- Corridor Capital in the sale of its portfolio company, Arvan and U.S. Industrial Tool and Supply Company, a manufacturing company specializing in fabricating mechanical and electrical components and assemblies, to ESINA Holding Corporation
- OpenGate Capital in the acquisition of the commodity amphoteric surfactant business of Solvay
- Corridor Capital in its investment in CEO Warrior, a provider of subscription-based business training and implementation services for owners and the senior executive teams of contractor services businesses, particularly those engaged in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical services
- Olympus Corporation regarding US matters in connection with the sale of Olympus’ worldwide digital camera and imaging business to Japan Industrial Partners
- Corbel Capital Partners in its investment in The Inception Company, a technology-driven production company that builds and supports virtual engagement products and services
- OpenGate Capital in its acquisition of Sargent & Greenleaf, Inc., a subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker and a company that designs, develops, manufactures and distributes electronic and mechanical safe locks
- Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Investment Funds in their Barnes & Noble proxy contest and related activist investment
- Celanese Corporation in connection with a joint venture to build a polyacetal production facility in Saudi Arabia with Duke Energy and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
- Honeywell International in its acquisition of Norcross Safety Products for $1.2 billion
- Renewable Resources Group and its affiliates in the acquisition of Sun World International, one of the largest growers, marketers and breeders of premium seedless grapes, sweet peppers, stonefruits and other fruits and vegetables
- Renewable Resources Group and its affiliates in the acquisition of real estate and other assets of Oasis Date Gardens, Winterhaven Ranch, Vandervoort Date Ranches, Inc., Arizona River Ranch L.L.C. and other entities
- STW Fixed Income Management LLC, a value-orientated, US investment-grade fixed income investment manager, in its sale to Schroder US Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Schroders PLC
- Corridor Capital LLC and its affiliates in multiple acquisitions and divestitures, including:
- The sale of Control Devices LLC, a leading designer and manufacturer of valves and other engineered flow control solutions
- The acquisition of Wetmore Tool & Engineering Company, a market leader in specialty cutting tools, drill bits and fasteners, US Industrial Tool and Supply Company, a supplier of professional tools and accessories for aerospace manufacturing and other high precision industrial applications, and Arvan, Inc., a diversified custom fabricator of mechanical and electrical components for the aerospace, electronic, microwave and electrical power industries
- The acquisition of SCI Floor Covering, Inc., the leading distributor and installer of floor covering products for the repair, maintenance and restoration of commercial, healthcare, multi-family and insured residential properties in Michigan
- The acquisition of Innovative Office Products, Inc., a leading manufacturer of ergonomic mounting solutions for flat panel monitors, notebooks, tablet PCs and control panels
- The acquisition of Circuitronics, Inc., a premier electronic manufacturing services (EMS) company that caters to the needs of customers that require higher technology and reliability in the industrial, energy, security/mil-aero, communications, audio visual and prototype markets
- The acquisition of Connecting Point Marketing Group, a trade and marketing event company focused on multiple industries, including the retail, restaurant, construction, healthcare and hotel industries
- Corbel Structured Equity Partners in its investments in:
- Supplier Management Solutions, Inc., which provides supply chain oversight, management and support services to aerospace and defense manufacturers
- Cosmetic Design Group, a leader in custom design and formulation for many of the largest and most successful cosmetic, nail and personal care brands in North America and around the world, which caters to all requirements of successful brand management including design, production, filling, assembly and warehousing
- Jariet Technologies, Inc. a fabless semiconductor company utilizing digital microwave technology to enable higher performance, lower power, and smaller systems
- INI Power Systems, a provider of right-sized, man portable, fuel-agnostic power solutions for deployment to austere, unimproved environments anywhere in the world
- Victory Park Capital in its investments in:
- NJOY, Inc., a leading e-cigarette and vaping product company
- Dental Lab Holdings, which owns and operates dental labs which include daVinci Dental Studios and NuLIfe
- Coronal Group, an alternative energy firm that finances and operates solar photovoltaic projects for institutions, municipalities, corporations and non-profit organizations throughout the North America in its strategic investment in Blue Oak Energy, a solar engineering and construction company
- A major international global logistics company operating in the ocean, land and air transportation industries in its $550 million divestiture of a leading luxury cruise line
- American Tire Distributors, Inc. in the sale of the assets of its Am-Pac Tire Dist. Inc. subsidiary to Team Tire, Inc.
- ABB/Con-Cise Optical Group LLC, the US’ largest distributor of soft contact lenses, in its sale to New Mountain Capital
- Riordan Lewis & Haden Equity Partners in the sale of its interest in Creative Circle LLC, a provider of talent solutions focused on advertising, marketing, and digital/interactive professionals for major advertising agencies, marketing firms, and enterprise clients
- The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Tarrant Apparel Group in its going private transaction
- The management group of Prospect Medical Holdings in its going private acquisition by Leonard Green & Partners
- The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Bidz.com, Inc., a leading online retailer of jewelry, in its going private transaction
- Northrop Grumman Corporation in the acquisitions of Litton Industries Inc. and TRW Inc.
- Northrop Grumman Corporation in a tender offer for TRW Inc.’s public debt
- One of the world’s largest enterprise resource software makers in a tender offer for a recently acquired enterprise software maker’s public debt
- One of the world’s largest enterprise resource software makers in the hostile takeover, proxy contest and its $10.3 billion acquisition by another of the world’s largest enterprise resource software makers, creating the world’s second-largest business applications software company
- Newport Corporation in its $250 million acquisition of Ophir Optronics Ltd., an Israeli public company
- Shamrock Activist Value Fund in its proxy contest for seats on the Board of Texas Industries, Inc.
- Ask Jeeves Inc. in its acquisition by IAC InterActive Corp.
- MiniMed Inc. in its acquisition by Medtronic Inc.
- The Money Store Inc. in its acquisition by First Union Corporation
- American Tire Distributors in the sale of the Winston Tire Company and other subsidiaries
- Kingswood Village Marina in its acquisition by Archstone-Smith, a publicly traded real estate investment trust
- Casden Properties Inc. in its acquisition by Apartment Investment and Management Company, a publicly traded real estate investment trust
- Nortel Networks in its acquisition of Sonoma Systems
- Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp. in its acquisition by The Carlyle Group
- Allergan Inc. in its acquisition of Inamed Corporation
- University of Southern California Law School, 1997, Juris Doctor
- University of Texas, 1991, Bachelor of Arts
- California

Ranked, USA: FinTech Legal: Corporate, Securities & Financing, Chambers FinTech (2024)
Lawyer of the Year, Corporate Governance Law, Los Angeles, The Best Lawyers in America (2022)
Recognized, Corporate Governance Law and Compliance Law, Los Angeles, The Best Lawyers in America (2016–2023)
Recommended, Finance: Fintech, The Legal 500 US (2025)
Recommended, Media, technology and telecoms: Fintech, The Legal 500 US (2023, 2024)
Recommended, M&A/corporate and commercial: Private equity buyouts, The Legal 500 US (2017, 2018)
Recognized, Southern California Super Lawyers (2009–2013)
