High Contrast Mode:

a snowy landscape with trees and a body of water in the background in California
lawyer John Nyhan in a suit

John Nyhan

Of Counsel

Contact Information

California
(916) 441-2700

(916) 441-2067

Practice Areas

John Nyhan

Of Counsel

John Nyhan joined Peebles Kidder LLP (formerly known as Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP) in 2007. He has extensive trial experience in high-profile, high-stakes commercial and products liability litigation. He served as national and chief trial counsel in cases pending in state and federal courts throughout the country, coordinated and managed international litigation and tried cases and arbitrations involving complex business transactions, intellectual property and personal injuries.

Awards:

  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
  • Former Chair, Complex Litigation Committee

Teaching Positions:

  • National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Litigation Training Instructor
  • Federal Bar Council, CLE Program for Second Circuit Judicial Clerks: Developments in Class Actions
  • Seminar leader, Tobacco Products Liability Litigation, presented in Africa, Asia, South America, U.K.

Legal Authorship:

  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Mass Tort Litigation Manual, July, 2006. Wrote "Trial" chapter
  • California Continuing Education of the Bar, Civil Procedure Before Trial, 1996. Wrote "Submitted Case," "Consent Judgment" chapters.
  • Contributor; Donald E. Vinson, Jury Persuasion: Psychological Strategies and Trial Techniques. Prentice Hall, 1993
  • Practicing Law Institute. Civility in the Courts, 2001 Program Course Materials

Admissions

  • State Bar of California

  • California Supreme Court

  • USDC-Central District CA

  • USDC-Eastern District CA

  • USDC-Northern District CA

  • USDC-Southern District CA

  • USDC-District of Columbia

  • District of Columbia

  • District of Columbia Court of Appeal

  • State Bar of New York

  • USDC-Southern District NY

  • USDC-Eastern District NY

  • US Supreme Court

  • US Court of Appeals for Second Circuit

  • US Court of Appeals for Eighth Circuit

  • US Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit

Education

  • Villanova University, J.D., 1971

  • Managing Editor, Villanova Law Review, 1970-1971

  • Tufts University, B.A., 1965

  • Admitted to Practice: California, District of Columbia, New York

  • Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, 1965 – 1968.

Prior Legal Experience

  • Chadbourne & Parke LLP, Los Angeles and New York offices, 1997-2006

  • Pillsbury Madison & Sutro, 1986-1996

  • Lawler Felix & Hall, 1971-1986

a tower on a hill in California

Representative
Cases

Represents Native American Indian Tribes in litigation relating to federal recognition, enforcement of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, banking regulations, tribal land claims, land use and taxation issues

Represented pharmaceutical manufacturer in product liability litigation

Represents property owners in environmental cleanups involving various chemical exposures in California, New York, Ohio, Texas and Ontario, Canada

Represented parent of airport security screening company in litigation relating to the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center

Represented charitable foundation in arbitration involving breach of contract and intellectual property claims

Represented tobacco companies in litigation in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America. Selected, trained and coordinated work of local counsel

Served as lead trial counsel for manufacturer of dietary supplement, the diet supplement L-Tryptophan, in 650 personal injury cases filed in 25 California counties and in federal multidistrict litigation

Obtained defense verdict for manufacturer of the dietary supplement L-Tryptophan, in case tried in Los Angeles County Superior Court where the plaintiff sought $300 million in punitive damages

Successfully defended claims for punitive damages in the only other L-tryptophan case to go to trial in California

Obtained defense verdict in wrongful death jury trial in California against a tobacco company

Successfully defended tobacco company in a wrongful death jury trial in Florida

Successfully defended two major tobacco companies in approximately 50 cases filed in California alleging injury from exposure to cigarette smoke and asbestos

Managed mass tort litigation for oil company including 65 cases in Colorado involving exposure to gasoline from underground storage tank leak and over 100 cases in Arizona resulting from explosion of a railroad tank car

Won first jury trial in California involving claims that asbestos-containing materials in a high-rise office building caused damage to the building's owner

Represented nuclear bomb maker in litigation involving claims of 2,500 residents of the Marshall Islands stemming from the test of the first hydrogen bomb in 1954

Represented judicial candidates in election law contests in California

Serves as Counsel to non-profit organizations: New York Disaster Interfaith Services, formed after the 9/11 attack to aid disaster victims and traumatized recovery workers in the New York City region and provide disaster preparedness planning

Serves as counsel for R.M. Pyles Boys Camp in California, established to provide wilderness experience to inner-city boys at risk

Serves as counsel for The International James Joyce Foundation