John R. Climaco

John Climaco

John R.Climaco
Chairman
Climaco, Lefkowitz, Peca, Wilcox & Garofoli
Italian

www.climacolaw.com

In 1969, John R. Climaco, a 1967 graduate of Case Western Reserve University Law School, Founded Climaco, Lefkowitz, Peca, Wilcox & Garofoli Co., L.P.A., a 30-member law firm, with offices in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Washington D.C.; and New Orleans, Louisiana. He currently devotes the majority of his time to complex and class action litigation, including mass tort, product liability, antitrust, tobacco addiction, toxic tort and RICO.

The National Law Journal named him one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in the United States.

From 1984 to July 1988, he served as General Counsel of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He has also represented Kent State University (1974-1994); the State of Ohio; the City of Cleveland; the Cleveland Board of Education; and, until his untimely death, Sammy Davis, Jr.

On March 22, 1992, he was appointed by Thomas Lambros, former Chief Judge of the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and one of the trial counsel in a case against USAir arising out of the crash of Flight 405 at LaGuardia Airport in March, 1992, In Re: Air Disaster at New York LaGuardia Airport on March 22, 1992, MDL Docket No. 936.

From 1994 to 2004 he was a member of the Castano Plaintiff’s Legal Committee(“PLC”) serving as Acting Chairman of the PLC and Co-Chairman of various committees, including the Discovery and Fee Committees. He is member of the trial team in Scott, et al. vs. The American Tobacco Company, Inc., et al., Class Action Claim No. 96-8461 in the Civil District Court of Louisiana, Parish of Orleans and the Coordination Proceeding Special Title (Rule 1550(b)) In Re: Tobacco Cases II in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego, Case No. 711400. In 2000, he and the other 50 Castano law firms received the “Breath of Life Award” from the American Lung Association for their work in representing millions of claimants against the tobacco industry. He served as one of the Class Counsel in Brack, et al. vs. General Motors Corporation, case No. CV 98 04046, Superior court of New Mexico, County of Bernalillo (National Settlement).

On July 6, 2001, the Honorable Kathleen M. O’Malley appointed him Co-Lead and Class Counsel In Re: Inter-Op Hip Prosthesis Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1401, U.S. District court. Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. On February 1, 2001, the Honorable Michael J. Davis appointed John a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and Co-Chairman of the Discovery Committee In Re: Baycol Litigation Products, MDL 1431, U.S. District Court of Minnesota. On July 25, 2002, the Honorable Kathleen M. O’Malley appointed him a member of the Executive Committee in In Re: Scrap Metal Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:02CV0844. On September 25, 2002, the Honorable James S. Gwin appointed him Co-Lead Counsel In Re: Meridia Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1481, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, On March 28, 2003, the Honorable Donald C. Nugent, appointed John as Co-Lead Counsel In Re: OM Group Securities Litigation, Case No. 02 CV-2163, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division ($92.4m settlement). On September 16, 2003,Judge O”Malley appointed him liason counsel in In Re: Welding Rod Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1535. On May 12, 2004, Judge John R. Adams appointed him as Liason Counsel in In Re: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Securities Litigation, Case No. 5:03CV2166, United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. He was recently appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Guidant MDL.

John has represented police officers for over thirty (30) years. He served as Counsel to the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent association comprised of 6000 police officers in 35 counties throughout the State of Ohio and currently serves as Civil counsel to the Cleveland Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 8.

John has lectured on trial preparation and practice, RICO, ERISA, Mass Torts, Class Actions, MDL Proceedings, white collar criminal defense, labor and employment law throughout the country including the Stetson University college of Law’s annual Conference; the New York City Bar Association; the Aspen, Colorado Advanced Criminal Law Institute; the Case Western Reserved College of Law-CLE Program; the Health Care Section Conference of the Cleveland Bar Association; the Columbus Bar Association’s Annual Litigation Institute; the Institute of Business Law of California State University. Los Angeles and the Ohio CLE Institute. In January and May 2001, he was a panel member in the Mealey’s Baycol Seminar in San Diego, California. On October 24, 2003 John was a Keynote Speaker at the Fourth Annual Class Action/Mass Tort Symposium in New Orleans sponsored by the Louisiana State Bar Association. On November 16, 2004, he was a panel member at the American Conference Institute’s Welding Rod Litigation Conference in New Orleans. He has also appeared on local and national radio and television, Including The Phil Donahue Show, Larry King Live, Night Line, Good Morning America, and The Greta Van Susteren Show discussing various legal issues.

He is a Life Member of the Judicial Conference of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, as well as a Charter and Life Member of the Judicial Conference of the Eight Judicial District of Ohio. Recently, Donald C. Nugent, Judge United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio appointed him as a member of the Advisory Group to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

He is a former and current Advisory Board Member of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders; a former Trustee of the Center for Mental Retardation, which selected him to receive the 1992 and the 1997/98 Service to the Center Award and in 2003 received an award for outstanding commitment to individuals with MR/DD; and currently serves on the Board of Our Lady of the Wayside. He is a member of the Justinian Forum which serves as a professional organization for attorneys and judges of Italian heritage in Northern Ohio.

On May 6, 2000 he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

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