
John Goodwin

The Grace Building
1114 Avenue of the Americas
32nd Floor
New York, New York 10036

John provides strategic advice in complex commercial trials and appeals, arbitrations, government investigations, and pre-litigation disputes. He represents clients across a wide range of industries, with significant experience advising financial services, insurance, and technology companies.
Experience Highlights
Represented two hedge funds in an expedited nine-witness trial in Delaware Court of Chancery over a disputed multi-billion dollar stock authorization by a public company (decision pending)
Represented a major financial institution in ongoing arbitration proceedings, including a five-day trial, seeking more than $400 million of damages against a contractual counterparty
Represented a depositary institution and assisted in winning an eight-figure judgement in New York state court against a group of defaulted borrowers; obtained preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the borrowers from transferring collateral intended to secure the disputed loans
Represented a medical technology company in a successful petition for pre-action discovery in New York state court into the identity of individuals waging an anonymous campaign of online defamation
Represented an investment bank in a Third Circuit appeal of a closely watched indemnification lawsuit; assisted in obtaining affirmance of lower court victory
Represented a national insurance provider in federal litigation against the California Department of Insurance contesting a conservation order
Represented a major financial institution in a set of antitrust class actions alleging manipulation of the price of precious metals
Represented second-lien noteholders in a Delaware adversary bankruptcy proceeding and trial against a media company debtor
Represented market insurers in New York state court litigation stemming from the bankruptcy of a foreign oil refinery
Represented the investor limited partner in a federal low-income housing tax credit partnership in litigation with the general partner
Represented an investment bank and several of its former employees in litigation and arbitration involving equity swaps
Advised corporate boards and activist shareholders on litigation strategy in connection with governance disputes and activism campaigns
Represented clients in external investigations by the New York Attorney General, DOJ, FINRA, and other government agencies
Represented indigent criminal defendants, pro bono, under the Criminal Justice Act
Credentials
- Columbia University, J.D., 2015 (James Kent Scholar; Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Simon H. Rifkind Prize; Managing Editor, Columbia Human Rights Law Review)
- Columbia University, B.A., Film Studies and Political Science, 2012
- Judicial clerk to the Honorable William F. Kuntz, II, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 2016
- The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), “Ones to Watch,” (New York): Administrative/Regulatory Law, 2023 and 2024; Criminal Defense: White-Collar, 2024
- New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- Press ReleaseNovember 29, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 21, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 18, 2022
- Deals & CasesAugust 4, 2022
- InsightDecember 9, 2021
- InsightAugust 6, 2021
- Note, Legally Present, But Not Yet Legal: The State Attorney General’s Role in Securing Public Benefits for Childhood Arrivals, 46 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 340 (2014)