John K. Gisleson

Able to try cases on short notice, John has tried cases in the construction, energy, environmental, financial institution, manufacturing, real estate, retail, securities, and waste industries.

John also maintains an active pro bono practice. His pro bono work has included defending a man convicted of first-degree murder who obtained a new trial on culpability that was to focus on degree of guilt. John previously conducted an asylum appeal for a Croatian woman who was a domestic violence victim in that country. He has experience working on death penalty cases. John was involved in a constitutional challenge to the elimination of the International Baccalaureate Programme in a Pittsburgh-area school district, resulting in the program’s reinstatement.

Energy and Environmental Litigation

• Served as lead trial counsel for independent oil and gas operator against claims that hydraulic fracturing caused groundwater contamination from deep upward migration of fracturing fluids from target shale, releases from drill cuttings pit and impoundment, and surficial spills and releases; case was tried over 20 hearing days in first trial of its kind before Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, which found in favor of operator; decision affirmed by Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, Loren Kiskadden v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Dep’t of Envt’l Protection & Range Resources Appalachia, LLC, EHB Docket No. 2011-149-R, affirmed, 149 A.3d 380 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2016)
• Served as lead trial counsel for coke plant owner-operator against claims involving alleged Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) violations based on emissions of particulate from battery combustion stack and hydrogen sulfide from byproducts plant; case was tried in US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking civil penalties and mandatory injunctive relief reaching $100 million; achieved verdict for owner-operator on all disputed claims and EPA/DOJ voluntarily dismissed appeal,United States v. Mountain State Carbon, LLC, Docket No. 5:12-CV-19 (N.D.W.V.)
• Served as lead counsel in the defense of individual, mass, and class actions involving royalty claims arising out of production under natural gas leases
• Defended midstream natural gas operator against claims for breach of contract based on midstream gasgathering rates charged for operator’s own gas
• Served as lead trial counsel for renewable energy developer (wind) against claims by energy producer seeking to enjoin developer from use of ground surface in areas where producer wanted to construct well pads; developer was allowed to proceed with development, JKLM Energy LLC v. Big Level Wind LLC, Docket No. 2017-86 (C.C.P. Potter Cnty.)
• Defended land aggregator in class action brought by landowner-lessors of oil, gas, and coal rights in Beaver County, Pennsylvania; plaintiffs alleged breach of contract, breach of Pennsylvania Securities Act, and unauthorized practice of law against land aggregator; obtained dismissal of lawsuit on motion to dismiss before Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; affirmed in published opinion by Pennsylvania Superior Court,Lenau v. Co-Exprise, Inc., 102 A.2d 423 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014)
• Defended hydraulic fracturing contractor in prosecution of claims against producer for breach of master services agreement; dispute centered on compliance with key performance indicators, including number of stages per day
• Defended oil and gas operator in class action brought by landowner-lessors for breach of contract when oil and gas operator rejected landowners’ leases for oil and gas rights involving approximately 30,000 acres in Mercer County, Pennsylvania
• Defended oil and gas operator against claims that operator engaged in bad-faith unitization
• Defended natural gas producer against title and adverse possession claims involving natural gas leases
• Defended natural gas producer in nonjury trial with another producer concerning competing leases offered to an estate and dispute as to whose lease terms were in the best interests of estate and its heirs, In re: D.K. Phillips Estate, Docket No. 9626 of 1925 (C.C.P. Greene Cnty.)
• Defended water treatment company against claims of damage to impoundment liner that allegedly resulted in releases of flowback and produced water and associated environmental damage
• Served as lead counsel in prosecution of claims for breach of contract based on improper termination of services agreement involving treatment of flowback water and sale of related chemicals
• Served as lead trial counsel in prosecution of claims for breach of noncompete in asset purchase agreement ancillary to sale of a business engaged in hauling and disposal of drill cuttings and wastewater from well sites; enforced noncompete through injunction trial and shut down competing business, Waste Mgmt. of Pa. v. Mark Kile et al., Civil Action No. 10-9210 (C.C.P. Columbia Cnty.)
• Served as lead trial counsel in prosecution of claims involving unfair competition, trademark infringement, and misappropriation of trade secrets concerning the design, manufacture, and sale of industrial water tube boilers in a jury trial in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania with damages claim exceeding $10 million; case settled shortly after cross-examination of defendant’s chief executive,Indeck Keystone Energy LLC v. Victory Energy Operations LLC, 1:04-cv-00325 (W.D. Pa.)
• Served as lead counsel in defense of breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims involving alleged oral agreement for sale of 80,000 net tons of metallurgical coal allegedly worth $24 million

Business Litigation

• Served as lead trial counsel for financial institution in three-week jury trial against $30 million conversion claim involving nanotechnology used in the defense and manufacturing industries; defense verdict affirmed on appeal, Sampathkumar v. Chase Home Fin. LLC, Docket No. 5978 of 2012, affirmed, 544 WDA 2019
• Served as co-lead trial counsel in prosecution of claims for damage to 39-building, 426-unit apartment complex devastated by Hurricane Katrina, with claimed damages exceeding $40 million; case tried before a jury in the Civil District Court in Orleans Parish, Louisiana and settled during plaintiff’s case-in-chief, Strouse Greenberg Props. L.P. et al. v. Lexington Ins. Co., Civil Action No. 07-8378
• Served as co-lead trial counsel in defense of national pharmacy chain in nationwide opioid litigation
• Served as co-lead counsel in defense of economic loss, personal injury, and medical monitoring claims in putative class actions in multidistrict litigation involving alleged impurities in -sartan blood pressure medications
• Served as lead counsel in defense of putative class actions involving “natural” claims on labels of consumer products
• Served as lead trial counsel in FINRA arbitration defending against securities claims by investor alleging seven-figure trading losses due to purported flaws in web-based platform and erroneous accounting; unanimous award for client and against claimant, Jesse Erdle v. E*Trade, FINRA No. 18-02708
• Served as co-lead counsel in defense of directors and officers in manufacturing industry against claims of breach of fiduciary duty (among others) in connection with leveraged recapitalization and redemption transactions; damages claim exceeded $100 million
• Served as lead trial counsel in prosecution of accounting malpractice claims arising out of a $309 million asset sale in the healthcare industry; case was tried before a jury in Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, with damages claim exceeding $100 million, Arlin M. Adams, as Chapter 11 Trustee of the Bankruptcy Estate of Coram Healthcare Corp. v. Price Waterhouse LLP, Civil Action No. 97 L 14456 (Cir. Ct. of Cook Cnty.)
• Served as lead arbitration counsel in defense of online brokerage against multimillion-dollar claims of trading losses allegedly arising from flaws in trading platform; all claims rejected following arbitration, Jesse Erdle v. E*Trade, FINRA No. 18-02708
• Served as lead trial counsel in defense of bakery manufacturer against claims of wrongful termination of distributorship; defense verdict affirmed on appeal, Joseph Baran v. George Weston Bakeries Inc. et al., Docket No. 08-02117 (C.C.P. Allegheny Cnty.), affirmed, 209 A.3d 488 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2019)
• Served as lead counsel in defense of claims against directors and controlling shareholders of a close corporation for breach of fiduciary duty and oppression of minority shareholder
• Served as lead trial counsel in defense of assignee of partnership interest against fraud and breach of contract claims; case tried in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, with damages claims in the millions of dollars; plaintiff recanted allegations during cross-examination and case resolved immediately thereafter, David W. Coffin, Sr. v. David W. Coffin, Jr., 4:00-cv-00578 (M.D. Pa. 2000)
• Defended securities claims involving control of, or payments from, retirement accounts
• Served as lead trial counsel in prosecution of, and defense against, challenges to award of municipal contracts in injunction proceedings, Christopher Kierski & Vogel Disposal v. Robinson Twp. & Waste Mgmt. of Pa., Inc., 810 A.2d 196 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2002)
• Served as lead trial counsel in enforcement and defense of restrictive covenants through injunction proceedings for a variety of industries, including energy, manufacturing, and mortgage brokerage

Construction Claims

• Served as lead trial counsel in prosecution of contract claims by general contractor in two-week arbitration against owner seeking disputed structural steel allowance and other contract sums; panel awarded $6.8 million in damages
• Served as lead trial counsel against claims for breach of contract and bad faith by general contractor against owner-operator of wastewater treatment plant; verdict for contractor reversed in its entirety on appeal, with direction to enter judgment for owner-operator on main claims in dispute or order new trial, Robert J. Cummins dba Bob Cummins Constr. Co. v. Bradford Sanitary Auth., No. 199 CD 2016 (C.C.P. McKean Cnty.), reversed, 237 A.2d 584 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2020)
• Served as lead arbitration counsel in weeklong arbitration defending against $3 million claim of differing site conditions involving collapse of groundwater collection trench; award for respondent on claim
• Served as lead arbitration counsel in several construction arbitrations tried to decision involving construction defects or delay claims
• Served as lead arbitration counsel in defense of hotel developer in arbitration under the AAA construction rules against claims by general contractor that contractor had a contractual right to build the hotel; defeated claims and won award for developer
• Served as lead trial counsel in defense of general contractor against claims by subcontractor for sums allegedly due under construction contract; case tried in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
• Served as lead counsel in defense of construction manager against claims of delay and disruption in connection with additions and alterations to elementary schools
• Served as lead trial counsel in prosecution of claims involving allegedly defective concrete
• Served as lead counsel in investigation and defense of job-site personal injury claims on construction projects
• Counseling clients concerning construction claims for additional compensation