John Horan is a retired partner with Foley & Lardner LLP. He focused his practice on business and administrative litigation and governmental relations. He has extensive experience representing clients in the construction and real estate development industries. He was the founding chair of the firm’s Construction Practice.
John has extensive experience advising clients concerning project delivery methods for real estate development and drafting and negotiating construction and development contracts for complex projects in the public and private sectors.
He is a mediator certified by the Florida Supreme Court and is a member of several dispute resolution organizations. He has conducted or participated in the mediation of numerous complex disputes. One of the refinements of his practice style was the ability to utilize his understanding of dispute resolution to creatively plan and budget for the resolution of complex disputes. He has managed the successful resolution of several complex multiparty matters, resulting in great cost savings to clients.
Several of John’s trial successes include securing a jury verdict in excess of $2.5 million for a contractor against a performance bond surety in a case of first impression in Florida. He also secured a $1.5 million settlement payment for a local government from a contractor after securing a jury verdict against the contractor and its surety in a case where John’s client offered to pay $250,000 to the contractor before the trial. He also recovered $1.2 million dollars for a real estate client in a trial against a defaulting seller.
John has been extensively involved in community and public affairs for many years. He has received several awards and recognition for his pro bono work with dependent children and public service. He has received the Notre Dame Alumni Award for his many years of service to Notre Dame and the Orlando community and presently serves on the board of trustees of Barry University and is past chairman of the Barry University School of Law board of advisors. John has written and spoken frequently on diverse topics in the areas of construction law, litigation tactics, and legislative and public affairs.
John served as the president of the Private Business Association of Seminole County (2008-2009). He also has served for many years on the board of ABC of Florida, Inc., which is a state-wide commercial contracting trade association, and has provided lobbying, legislative and public affairs counseling to ABC Florida and other clients. His achievements in this area include recently assisting a contractor to secure a significant bridge contract in a local competitive bid process; assembling business support for local public financing initiatives; working pro bono to help pass a bill restoring court fee waivers for indigent persons; and passing a bill promoting airport safety and sensible wildlife protection.
A native of Pennsylvania, John received his law degree (J.D., 1977) and undergraduate degree (A.B., cum laude, 1974) from the University of Notre Dame. He is a member of the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry and former chair of the Orange County Bar Association’s Construction Law Section. John’s personal interests include politics and golf. In November 2010, John was elected by the citizens of Seminole County, Florida to serve a four-year term on the County Commission, which is the governing body of the County.
John has been Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell’s peer review rating system and has been recognized twice as one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend™ magazine. He has also been selected for inclusion in the 2007 – 2013 Florida Super Lawyers® lists and by his peers for inclusion in the 2008 – 2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of commercial litigation.
John’s publications and presentations include:
- “Ethics Is Good Business,” Pile Driver Magazine and AGC Constructor Magazine, 2009
- “What Every Lawyer Should Know About Trial Strategies and Tactics,” CFMA National Conference on Construction Fraud, 2008 and 2009
- “Florida Immigration Legislation: From ‘Fixing Stupid’ to ‘Dumb and Dumber’,” Southeast Construction, June 12, 2008
- “J.S.U.B., Inc. v. U.S. Fire Insurance Company – What Does it Mean to You?,” Building Central Florida, March 31, 2008
- “Immigration Reform and the Construction Industry: Can It Be Fixed?,” Foley & Lardner LLP Seminar, October 26, 2007
- “Immigration Reform: Can Congress Cure Decades of Bad Immigration Policies?,” Foley & Lardner LLP Article, October 26, 2007
- “The Little Fungus that Causes Big Problems: How to Prevent Mold and Avoid Lawsuits,” Multifamily FLORIDA, Spring 2007
- “Immigration Reform: Can Congress Cure Decades of Bad Immigration Policies?,” Southeast Construction Magazine, August 2006