John G. McCarthy

John G. McCarthy leverages his extensive experience as a trial attorney in federal and state courts throughout the United States to position clients for the best possible litigation outcome.

John has represented domestic and foreign clients in all aspects of general business litigation in a variety of areas, including business torts, contract disputes, corporate law and governance, director and officer liability, intellectual property, unfair competition, trade secrets, professional malpractice, bankruptcy, banking, products liability, and real estate. John utilizes this vast experience across industries and practice areas to help clients efficiently and effectively handle their legal disputes. In addition to his courtroom experience, John brings to bear on cases his years of experience as a member of firm management who understands the competing business and financial pressures his clients face.

John has worked extensively with the Firm’s Air Transport Group, both as an advisor on New York law issues and as litigation counsel. John also has extensive experience in litigation matters in bankruptcy court representing trustees, creditors, committees, and other interested parties and in district court representing parties in intellectual property infringement cases. Several of these matters resulted in opinions that are cited in leading treatises including Collier on Bankruptcy and McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition. John served as an attorney for the Monsey Fire District in Rockland County, NY, as an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School, and an Instructor on Business Law at Hartwick College. He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

John’s law school note on the use of international criminal jurisdiction to combat terrorism has been cited in more than two dozen scholarly works, including at least four treatises on international law, and in testimony to a bipartisan commission of the U.S. House of Representatives.

John is a member of the board of the Fordham Law Alumni Association and a past President of the Fordham College Alumni Association. He coached youth teams for Rockville Centre Soccer Club, Rockville Centre Basketball League, East Meadow Soccer Club, and St. Agnes Cathedral Catholic Youth Organization (CYO).

John's Practice

Representative Matters

• Lead counsel in the federal trial of a case involving breach of three aircraft lease agreements that resulted in judgments against the lessee and its parent company totaling more than $409 million, which have been fully satisfied;
• Obtained the first ever order from a U.S. court granting immediate possession pursuant to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (aka the Cape Town Convention), allowing the owner to repossess an aircraft located in Asia and eventually lease it to another airline before final determination of the complaint;
• Lead counsel for plaintiff in a Commercial Division trial in New York County Supreme Court in a dispute between co-founders of a successful business about payment due upon a liquidation event that settled for $3.5 million during jury deliberations;
• Successfully represented multinational manufacturing client in arbitration which resulted in multimillion dollar award for client and denial of respondent’s product defect counterclaim seeking $13+ million;
• Obtained appellate decisions affirming summary judgment as to the holder of unsold shares status for New York city co-operative buildings in two different cases;
• Lead counsel in the federal trial of a commercial valuation dispute that resulted in a $23+ million judgment in favor of SGR’s client and overall recovery exceeding $145 million;
• After another firm lost a $3.3 million verdict against SGR’s client, he obtained a reversal and a remand for a retrial as to damages, and then obtained a complete defense verdict on liability;
• Successfully argued in the Seventh Circuit that the appellant lacked standing to appeal the order of the Bankruptcy Court, resulting in an opinion that clarified the law on that issue;
• Represented an FAA Part 135 operator in companion lawsuits involving the leasing and operation of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft;
• Devised a plan for a bankruptcy trustee to use arbitration against non-US partners of a defunct international law firm, and obtained voluntary settlements exceeding $700,000 and arbitration awards totaling almost $300,000;
• Obtained multi-million dollar settlements for clients prosecuting intellectual property infringement actions;
• Negotiated a seven-figure settlement on behalf of a lessor of its claim in New York federal court against a non-US airline with respect to foreign object damage (FOD) to an engine;
• Prevailed after bench trial in bankruptcy court that U.S. preference law did not apply to transfer in Israel.