John Claassen advises businesses, their owners, and their employees in civil litigation in the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Barbara through offices in Walnut Creek, California and Santa Barbara.

Over his career, John Claassen has served as lead counsel and strategic advisor in hundreds of matters, including recently partnership disputes, shareholder derivative actions, defending appeals, wage and hour litigation, executive compensation, employment litigation, and the like. As a long-time business owner himself, John Claassen has a thorough understanding his business clients’ business objectives and works with his clients to formulate efficient, efficient litigation strategies that work within clients’ larger business goals.

John studied law at Georgetown University Law Center where he served as Assistant Managing Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.   He has an M.A. in Liberal Studies from St. John’s College and an undergraduate degree in history and french literature from the University of Iowa. While in school, he spent two academic years in french-speaking countries and traveling around Europe.

Prior to opening his own law firm in 2005, he worked in New York and in the Bay Area at world-class law firms Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, and Skadden Arps. John Claassen is an avid hiker, swimmer, and aspiring trail runner. His latest projects include but are far from limited to walking the California portions of the American Discovery Trail in off time.

He is a member of the Contra Costa Bar Association and his local Rotary club, a great platform for volunteering locally.

Highlights:

  • Over 20 years of distinguished experience in civil litigation.

  • Served as lead attorney on hundreds of matters.

  • Superior results time after time.

Education:

  • Georgetown University Law Center

Admissions:

  • California, New York, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, and various federal trial courts in California and New York.

Recent Publications:

  • The EU Is Not Merely For The Sake Of Unity, Daily Journal (May 27, 2016),

  • Broadly Construe Laws Requiring Openness, Daily Journal (Mar. 31, 2015)

  • Protect the Value of Human Assets, San Francisco Daily Journal (Feb. 4, 2015)

  • When Police Officer Immunity Goes Further Than Necessary, San Francisco Daily Journal (Dec. 9, 2014)

  • It's Time To Modernize State and Federal Tax Codes, San Francisco Daily Journal (Oct. 20, 2014)