John P Gilfillan
John.Gilfillan@kennedyslaw.com
+1 908 647 8390
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Profile
Education
- Seton Hall University School of Law, JD, 1989
- Providence College, BA, 1985
John is a partner in the Basking Ridge office and was admitted to the state and federal bars of New Jersey in 1991, along with the US District Court, District of New Jersey and US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.
He practices in a variety of complex litigation areas, including insurance defense and coverage, motor vehicle negligence, products liability, employment practices, commercial disputes, construction, and professional liability. He also has experience in the insurance regulatory area. John has extensive experience at both the trial level and appellate courts in both the State and Federal court systems .
At Kennedys, John leads the US region of the Global Liability/Defense Group, and works with the firm’s defense lawyers all around the world. He also represents numerous foreign insurance companies, manufacturers and businesses that get sued in the United States, and is often requested to give advice to Kennedys lawyers and their clients in other countries on US land. In addition, John is on the Strategy Board for Kennedys IQ, the firm’s affiliated technology company that offers innovative solutions to the firm’s clients to improve their claims handling and other operations challenges. John is spearheading the introduction of Kennedys IQ’s products and services into the US, and is active in the development of additional technologies to offer the firm’s clients.
John is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and is a requested speaker at seminars and presentations at the annual bar convention and other venues around the state. He is also a former member of the Lay Board of Trustees of Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey.
John also contributed to the Claims inflation and personal injury claims: a global review report, published in June 2023.
Related articles
Qualifications and admissions
- New Jersey
- US District Court, New Jersey
- US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Work highlights
- Represented a manufacturer of automated storage and retrieval systems in a multi-million dollar products liability action where the plaintiff sought damages for significant personal injuries, alleging defective design, defective manufacture and failure to warn. After a three week trial, the jury returned a defense verdict in favor of our client.
- Represented a manufacturer of port and catheter medical devices in a lawsuit where the catheter broke and travelled to the plaintiff’s heart. This complex claims sounding in defective design and manufacture was rigorously defended and settled just prior to trial on terms highly favorable to our client.
- Representing an international manufacturer of automated guided vehicles (robot forklifts) in multi-million dollar products liability case where the plaintiff is alleging that the automated system was defectively designed and installed.
- Handled thousands of motor vehicle lawsuits in New Jersey and New York where the plaintiffs were seeking significant damages for personal injury and other loss, and have a well-respected reputation for achieving extremely favorable results for our clients and their insurance carriers, either through obtaining a defense verdict at trial, winning summary judgement prior to trial, or negotiating settlements far below the plaintiff’s demand.
- Represented a bus company in a case brought by 55 plaintiffs for personal and psychological injury resulting from a fire that occurred on the bus while the bus was traveling up the New Jersey Turnpike. This complex case was rigorously defended and settled just prior to trial on terms highly favorable to our client.
- Represented numerous foreign corporations sued in the US and obtained dismissals based on lack of personal jurisdiction and/or forum on non conveniens grounds.
Presentations and publications
- Co-author, “Newly signed bill opens the door for bad faith suits against auto insurers providing UM and UIM benefits,” published for Kennedys (January 2022)
- Panelist, “The future of dispute resolution webinar series: an alternative perspective - will COVID-19 act as an accelerator to online courts?” In-House Client Training (December 2020)
- Moderator, “Autonomous Vehicles: A Future With No One Behind the Wheel?” presented for Perrin Conferences (November 2020)
- “Psychological/Psychiatric injury claims: A US Perspective” London (January 2020)
- “The Talc Litigation in the United States” presented at the UK Liability Underwriters Group convention at Cambridge University (September 2019)
- “Sports Related Head Trauma,” presented at the UK Liability Underwriters Group convention at Cambridge University (September 2019)
- "The Evolving Partnership of Data Analytics and Claims," presented for A.M. Best (May 2018) View John's webinar now
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Construction and engineering
Insurance and reinsurance
Life sciences
Rail
Sport
Transport and logistics
Travel and tourism