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Practice Areas

Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
FINRA Arbitration
Legal Malpractice Defense
Accountants Malpractice
Professional Liability Defense

Bar/Court Admissions

1979, District of Columbia; 2000, Maryland

Education

Carnegie Mellon University (B.S., 1975; M.S., 1976)
Georgetown University, J.D., cum laude, 1979


Organizations

The District of Columbia Bar; Bar Association of the District of Columbia; The William B. Bryant American Inns of Court; The Counsellors; The Barristers.
  
JOHN TREMAIN MAY

 
Partner
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Telephone: 202-496-2805
Facsimile: 202-496-2800

1100 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036-4117
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Practice Overview and Representative Experience:
John May was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America (Registered) in the practice area of Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants.

Author: "Administrative Survey: S.E.C.," 10 Law and Policy International Business 237, 1978. Adjunct Professor, Legal Ethics, Washington College of Law American University. Hearing Committee Chairman, D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility, 1995-2001.

John May has been representing attorneys in legal malpractice cases since 1982. He has also represented a wide variety of other professionals, including accountants and insurance agents.

He has lectured on numerous occasions on ethics and legal malpractice for The D.C. Bar, the Virginia Bar, Georgetown University Law Center, American University Law School, and the Ethics Resource Center, among others. John is an adjunct professor of law at the American University Washington College of Law teaching Legal Ethics.

John served as a Hearing Committee member for the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, the equivalent of a trial court for the D.C. disciplinary system.

Most recently, in May of 2011, John Tremain May and Padraic Keane of Jordan Coyne & Savits, L.L.P successfully defended a law firm in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in a lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). After a three-day trial before the Honorable James Gwin, specially assigned from the Northern District of Ohio, the jury found in favor of the defendant. Of course, all matters are decided on their own particular facts or merits, and, because each case is different and litigation is inherently unpredictable, the past record is no assurance of reaching a favorable result in any future case.

John spent many years as an actor and singer in Community theater. Although many have practiced at the Supreme Court, he is one of the few attorneys who has actually performed there.
 
Reported Cases
Houlahan v. World Wide Ass'n of Specialty Programs & Schs, 677 F. Supp. 2d 195 (D.D.C. 2010)(abuse of process claim)

Klayman v. Judicial Watch, Inc., 661 F. Supp. 2d 2, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95631 (D.D.C. 2009)

Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP v. Orian, 662 F. Supp. 2d 130, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95102 (D.D.C. 2009)(attorney-client privilege)

Clark v. Feder Semo & Bard, P.C., 634 F. Supp. 2d 99 (D.D.C. 2009)(ERISA action)

Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP v. Orian, 563 F. Supp. 2d 250, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50509 (D.D.C. 2008)

Geter v. Horning Bros. Mgmt., 537 F. Supp. 2d 206, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22495 (D.D.C. 2008)(Fair Housing Act claim)

Bush v. Butler, 521 F. Supp. 2d 63 (D.D.C. 2007)(civil rights action)

Piedmont Resolution, L.L.C. v. Johnston, Rivlin & Foley, 178 F.R.D. 328, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3786 (D.D.C. 1998)

Flax v. Schertler, 935 A.2d 1091 (D.C. 2007)(legal malpractice defense)

Marboah v. Ackerman, 877 A.2d 1052 (D.C. 2005)(legal malpractice defense)

Rolinski v. Lewis, 828 A.2d 739 (D.C. 2003)(legal malpractice defense)

Estate Constr. Co. v. Miller & Smith Holding Co., 14 F.3d 213 (4th Cir. Va. 1994)

In re Austern, 524 A.2d 680, 1987 D.C. App. LEXIS 332 (D.C. 1987)(bar discipline proceeding)