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Robinson, John

John M. Robinson

Associate

johnrobinson@quinnemanuel.com
Direct Tel: +1 312-705-7419
Chicago
Tel: +1 312 705 7400 Fax: +1 312 705 7401

John Robinson is an associate in Quinn Emanuel’s Chicago office whose practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, white collar investigations, and appeals. Prior to joining Quinn, John clerked for the Honorable Thomas M. Hardiman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and worked as a litigation associate for another major international law firm.

John has helped clients resolve a wide range of civil cases, including contract, tort, fraud, intellectual property, employment, antitrust, regulatory, and constitutional rights disputes. In doing so, he has played key roles in nearly a dozen trials, arbitrations, and evidentiary hearings, including by examining and cross-examining numerous fact and expert witnesses. John has also taken and defended dozens of depositions, drafted dispositive motions, argued pretrial motions, conducted settlement negotiations, and managed e-discovery.

John has particular expertise in trade secret matters, where he has won preliminary injunctions on behalf of clients and successfully defended those wins on appeal. He also has expertise in representing companies and individuals involved in private equity, including private equity firms, funds, principals, and portfolio companies.

John has assisted clients in conducting internal investigations, often under threat of DOJ or SEC prosecution. He has also represented clients on appeal to numerous state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. John successfully briefed and argued an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, winning a unanimous reversal of summary judgment for his client.

John is an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law where he teaches State Constitutional Law.

  • Harvard Law School
  • (J.D., cum laude, 2014)
    • Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy:
      • Executive Editor
  • Loyola University Chicago
    (B.A., magna cum laude, Political Science and History, 2007)
    • Dean’s List
  • The State Bar of Illinois 
  • Law Clerk to the Hon. Thomas Hardiman:
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2015-2016

  • Ranked in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Commercial Litigation, 2023, 2024
  • Firm Memorandum: Avoiding Liability Under the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (2021)
  • The Past and Uncertain Future of Quill and the Physical Presence Requirement, Bloomberg BNA: Tax Management Weekly State Tax Report, June 5, 2015 (with Mark P. Rotatori, Morgan R. Hirst, and Yael D. Aufgang).
  • Neither "Ministerial" Nor An "Exception": The Ministerial Exception in Light of Hosanna-Tabor, 37 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 1151.
  • Hosanna-Tabor, Religious Freedom, and the Constitutional Structure, 2012 Cato Sup. Ct. Rev. 307 (with Richard Garnett).