John A. Vassallo, III

John has also provided clients with regulatory and litigation risk analyses in connection with rulemaking by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Consumer Products Safety Commission, and other US government agencies. He has handled multijurisdictional litigation, up through the trial and appellate levels, arising under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and state statute analogs such as the New Jersey Spill Act.

While in law school, John was a research and writing editor for the Pace Environmental Law Review and was a legal intern for the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic. He was also a judicial intern for Judge Barbara S. Jones in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

John’s background in finance, compliance, and enforcement matters extends beyond the legal realm. Before attending law school, he analyzed international commodities markets and fundamental economic indicators for a New York hedge fund. As an environmental compliance and enforcement officer, John handled regulatory permitting, compliance, and administrative enforcement issues in the areas of natural water, drinking water, and air quality pursuant to the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Clean Air Act.

• Senior case leadership role representing global Contract Research Organization in high-priority, multi-million-dollar FDA Phase 1-3 clinical drug study disputes involving commercial and regulatory issues with drug development sponsors in courts, international arbitration, and other venues.
• Senior role on successfully concluded 6-year defense of broker-dealer/insurer in a sprawling suite of matters presenting a half-billion-dollar exposure and regulatory sanctions risk from extensive Ponzi, insurance, and insider trading schemes. Matters included SEC and FINRA regulatory investigations, North Carolina bankruptcy proceedings, 18 North Carolina business court suits by 43 plaintiffs, and numerous FINRA arbitrations all managed together as a portfolio of related cases.
• Counseled international biopharmaceutical client to prevent failure of a $1 billion collaboration and license agreement with Korean company that was foundational to launching client’s global biosimilars business. Issues included counterparty’s threatened divestiture of biologics business unit and facility shutdown; bad-faith supply agreement negotiations; deficient early-stage development support; and noncompliance preventing first-territory regulatory approvals. Advised on leverage strategies, vetted business solutions, and played a lead speaking role at the table in the 12-hour settlement negotiation in Switzerland that favorably resolved the dispute without litigation.
• Senior role defending multiple large financial institutions in separate regulatory enforcement matters concerning securities law, regulation, and rule violations that involved significant public reputational risk. All matters required years of internal investigations working with the clients’ compliance and business units, ongoing negotiations with FINRA, and resolved in reputationally favorable public settlements.
• Advised U.S. biopharmaceutical client in complex tri-party licensing, development, and commercialization dispute and business reconfiguration with French and Japanese companies concerning world-wide development of pipeline osteoarthritis treatment. Issues included loss of license-back rights; co-promotion election rights; confidential treatment of shared know-how; deficient product supply for clinical studies; license exclusivity violations; and publicity rights.
• Executed very low-profile strategies to successfully defend Russian state-owned energy company against $540 million RICO claims, and Russian state-owned bank against $750 million fraud claims, which culminated in pre-merits dismissals at the New York federal district and appellate court levels.
• Advised senior pharmaceutical personnel in reconfiguring a multi-billion-dollar immuno-oncology collaboration agreement centering on co-development, co-commercialization, and co-administration of drugs utilizing monospecific PD-1 or PD-L1 antibodies. Developed and provided business with negotiation positions that excluded anti-PD-L1/TGF-β Trap fusion proteins from agreement and enabled pathways to new business opportunities with other companies.
• Principal attorney defending Canadian investment bank against private investor FINRA arbitration claims having precedent-setting consequences for the market-making industry. Led a five-defendant joint defense group and spearheaded a creative litigation strategy that resulted in an extremely rare pre-hearing summary judgment victory in the FINRA arbitration.
• Represent executives of laboratory analytics Contract Research Organization in post-asset-acquisition earnout and price adjustment dispute with purchasing life sciences Contract Research Organization.
• Trial counsel for plaintiff real estate developer in month-long trial in the District of New Jersey on CERCLA, RCRA, Spill Act, and Landfill Closure Act claims against private and government entities arising from more than a century of site contamination.
• Lead associate representing national bank on portfolio of multi-defendant mortgage fraud lawsuits each brought as mass actions by up to 80 plaintiffs in N.Y./N.J. state and federal courts.
• Represented a global semiconductor manufacturer on contractual indemnification claims against the United States in the Court of Federal Claims and in parallel CERCLA/FUSRAP cost-recovery negotiations.
• Blocked discovery of U.S. domestic-situs investment information from international hedge fund client that would have been central to German litigation initiated by high-profile European investors.
• Lead associate in persuading FINRA to reverse career-ending disciplinary decisions taken against three in-house counsel of financial firm and to close regulatory investigations with no action.
• Defended an indenture trustee in connection with False Claims Act allegations arising from Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities transactions.
• Represented a major insurer as subrogation counsel during remedy selection negotiations with the EPA concerning an abandoned mining site in Washington state.
• Defended an international bank against tort and fraud claims seeking $2 billion in damages relating to bank’s role as broker in sale of $1.8 billion of foreign sovereign’s bonds sub-custodized in New York.
• Represented injury detection dye manufacturer in connection with breach of contract and tort suit threatened by exclusive licensee. Developed and led royalties audit of counterparty that accomplished business resolution of terminating agreement with no client liability.
• Advised major government defense prime contractor concerning Department of Energy Price Anderson Act nuclear hazards indemnification and potential litigation arising from subcontractor conduct that led to a nuclear incident.
• Led internal investigation and reported recommendations to highest senior executives of foreign international security company on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) exposure involving Southeast Asia and South America business operations following U.S. DOJ raids in the Philippines.
• Defended company in 13-defendant environmental clean-up cost recovery CERCLA litigation at Brooklyn site with 150-year history of industrial activities.
• Defended of an operator of kidney dialysis centers against class action product liability claims alleging increased cardiopulmonary health risks and numerous deaths nationwide after FDA class 1 recall.
• Represented major quasi-governmental agency in connection with environmental due diligence and risk-limitation strategy development on transaction concerning a 5,000-acre EPA Superfund site.
• Navigated complex regulations to obtain one of seven expedited emergency recovery licenses for national disaster-restoration firm following Hurricane Sandy.
• Senior role representing petroleum storage and terminal operating company in denial of multi-million-dollar breach of contract claims and injunctive relief sought by customer in AAA arbitration concerning alleged petroleum storage and transport preference rights.
• Pro bono appellate counsel for defendant on a Petition for Post-Conviction Relief in which, in a near-unprecedented outcome, the NJ Appellate Division unanimously remanded for an entirely new Post-Conviction Relief proceeding.