Principal
Beveridge & Diamond
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
John S. Guttmann represents companies in complex toxic tort, product liability and environmental litigation He has served as lead counsel in cases with potential damages/awards in the billions of dollars and has secured judgments or reduction of claims in numerous matters that have saved clients millions of dollars.
John is lead national counsel for a petroleum refiner in all MTBE product liability litigation and has been a member of the defense steering committee for the refining industry in the MTBE MDL. He led a team that successfully defended a public water utility in multiple cases claiming health effects due to alleged lead exposure. The court relied upon John's arguments in denying class certification in the first case, which moved the entire docket to a quick favorable resolution.
He devotes much of his practice to defending natural resource damages (NRD) cases brought by states. He currently represents defendants in statewide NRD cases brought by four sovereigns.
John is a former National Director of DRI and also served as Chair of DRI's Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee. He has spoken on environmental litigation at meetings sponsored by DRI, the ABA, the District of Columbia Bar, the New York City Bar Association, and the Environmental Law Institute as well as at the annual NRD conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Above all else, he is the husband of Holly Cannon and the proud father of two terrific daughters, Ellie and Hope, who are off doing great things.
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