Now in his 30th year of law practice, John Roven still takes time to make “house calls”. The lawyers at Roven-Kaplan have adopted John’s strong belief in the importance of taking the time to know clients, even in routine cases… I still want to get to know each person who hires us…a few minutes at a client’s home, or at a diner over a cup of coffee  tells me  more about a man than simply reading his deposition testimony or looking at his medical records…”

In addition to successfully trying many asbestos injury cases, John has also handled a wide range of cases for the seriously injured involving FELA workplace injuries, defective medical devices , trucking and highway injuries, occupational hearing loss and toxic chemical exposures. Well known and respected by his peers, John has earned the advocate’s highest “AV rating” from Martindale-Hubbell. He is former head of the Occupational Disease section of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys and is a plaintiff’s liaison counsel to the federal asbestos multi-jurisdictional litigation in Philadelphia. In 1998 , he became  the only lawyer to achieve a jury verdict against a former manufacturer of steam locomotives.

 

John is a member of numerous professional practice groups and is licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, where he recently filed a brief on behalf of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys.

Private Practice Lawyer Profile

John received his law degree in 1981 from The University of South Carolina, receiving the Order of Wig and Robe for high academic achievement. He is a former law clerk to the Hon. G. Ross Anderson, United States District Judge . He is a sustaining member of the American Association for Justice and the father of two high school girls.

 

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• University - Coker College, A.B., cum laude, 1974

   

  Law School - University of South Carolina, J.D., 198l

   

  Admitted - 1981, South Carolina; 1982, U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina and U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit; 1983, U.S. District Court, District of Nebraska; 1986, Texas and U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas; 1998, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

   

  Memberships - Houston Bar Association; South Carolina Bar; Texas Trial Lawyers Association; American Association for Justice; Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys (Chairman, Occupational Disease Section, 1989-1991).

   

• Languages - Italian
  
  

• Born - New York, N. Y., March 16, 1954
  
  

• Biography - Member, Order of Wig and Robe, 1981. Law Clerk to Hon. G. Ross Anderson, U. S. District Court, District of South Carolina, 1982-1983. Formerly with: Jones & Granger, Houston, Texas, 1986-1995; Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, Barnwell, South Carolina, 1983-1985. Special Investigator, Office of Attorney General, South Carolina, 1976-1978. Appointed Plaintiff's Liaison Counsel to Judge Charles Weiner, Multi District Litigation, MDL Asbestos, 1990. Regional Appointed Advocate, Texas, 1990-1996. Designated Legal Counsel, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Railroad Division-National.

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  Reported Cases - Kurns v Railroad Friction Products Corp. 565 US__ (2012)(Amicus Curiae :Academy of Labor Rail Attorneys); Scheiding, et at v. General Motors Corp., 993 P2d. 996 (Cal. 2000) cert, Den. 531 U.S. 958 (Amicus Curiae); Viad v. Superior Court 55 Cal.App. 4th 330 (1997); Bechtoldt, et al v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, 722 Fed.Supp. 704 (D. Wyo. 1989).
  
  

  ISLN - 901969413
  
  

  Transactions - Speaker/ Panelist : Harris-Martin Federal and State Asbestos Conference: Federal Preemption in Rail Equipment Cases” (February 2012); Panelist American Academy of Otolaryngology, July, 1994; Expert Testimony in Acoustic Trauma Cases; Annual Convention, San Diego, California.