John Butts > WilmerHale > Boston, United States > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices
60 STATE STREET
BOSTON, MA 02109
MASSACHUSETTS
United States
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John Butts
Work Department
Class Actions; Commercial Litigation; Litigation; Securities Enforcement; Securities Litigation; Trials
Position
Partner
Chair, Commercial Litigation Group
Career
John Butts is a partner and chair of the Commercial Litigation Group, and a member of the Securities Department and the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practices. He joined the firm in 2000.
Mr. Butts has litigated and arbitrated across the country in a wide range of complex commercial and securities matters. He has successfully represented clients in the banking, financial services, life sciences, information technology and automotive industries in cases with significant financial implications. His more frequent matters include business tort, trade secret, and contract disputes as well as consumer and securities class actions.
Before law school, Mr. Butts served as a surface warfare officer in the United States Navy.
Memberships
Bar Admissions
Massachusetts
Other Organizations:
Boston Bar Association
Massachusetts Bar Association
Education
University of Pennsylvania Law School , J.D. (1999)
Villanova University , B.S. (1992)
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
WilmerHale routinely handles commercial litigation at all levels of the state and federal court systems. Sector expertise across finance, tech, and life sciences is a defining characteristic of the team’s ‘deep bench of super smart, experienced, and highly respected litigators’, who have also carved out a niche in credit reporting litigation. Boston’s John Butts chairs the group and devotes much of his practice to cases involving business torts, trade secret, and contract disputes as well as consumer and securities class actions. In New York, Hallie Levin is known for her work in antitrust cases, business torts, trade secrets cases, and government investigations, while Noah Levine is a key contact for class actions. Boston-based Felicia Ellsworth is highly experienced in government-facing investigations, including those brought by state Attorneys General, and appears in high-profile cases before the Supreme Court. From the Palo Alto office, ‘master strategist’ Sonal Mehta is in-demand for patent and technology disputes. Andrew Rhys Davies joined the practice from A&O Shearman in March 2023 and is praised as ‘a tremendous appellate advocate’.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Antitrust > Cartel
- International trade > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Education
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Government > State attorneys general
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- International trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government contracts
- Government > Government relations
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense