John B. Harris
John B. Harris is a partner in the Litigation Group with more than 30 years of experience representing clients in high stakes civil and criminal matters.
In his legal ethics and professional responsibility practice, Mr. Harris defends law firms, lawyers, and other professionals against claims of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and violations of the rules of professional conduct. He also frequently represents parties in law partnership disputes, advises lawyers and law firms on their professional obligations and provides expert testimony on professional responsibility issues.
A central part of Mr. Harris’ practice is the representation of individuals and entities who are the subjects of either criminal or regulatory investigations. Mr. Harris understands that his clients are best served when charges are not filed by prosecutors and regulators, and he has had substantial success for his clients in accomplishing this result.
Mr. Harris is a former Chair of the Professional Responsibility Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and is a former member of the City Bar’s Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics, Committee on Professional Discipline, Judiciary Committee, and Task Force on Multi-Disciplinary Practice. He currently serves as a member of the State Bar Professional Discipline Committee, having previously served as a delegate to the State Bar’s House of Delegates and its Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Asian Hate. He also acts as a mediator for the US District Court for the Southern District.
Mr. Harris is also a member of the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Foundation; served as Chair of the New York Regional Board and Chair of the National Civil Rights Committee of the ADL; served as a member of the New York University Law Alumni Association; and served on Law360’s 2022 Legal Ethics Editorial Board. He has been recognized in Super Lawyers magazine as a New York-area Super Lawyer for eighteen consecutive years.
Before joining Frankfurt Kurnit, he was a partner at Stillman & Friedman, P.C. and Ballard Spahr LLP. Previously, Mr. Harris was a reporter for The Hartford Courant. Mr. Harris is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut.
Representative matters include:
- Defending law firm and its personnel against claims of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud in a trusts-and-estates matter;
- Representing departed law firm partner accused of breaching his fiduciary duty to his former firm;
- Litigating law firm partner’s entitlement to retirement benefits notwithstanding his departure to a competing firm;
- Representing clients and law firms in large-ticket fee disputes, including the viability of retaining and charging liens;
- Opposing the imposition of professional discipline against lawyers across New York;
- Obtaining reinstatement for suspended and disbarred lawyers;
- Defending claims against a patent law firm that conflicts of interest required the firm’s disqualification from on-going federal litigation;
- Representing an in-house lawyer accused of aiding and abetting the fraud of corporate executives;
- Quashing federal subpoenas seeking outtakes and other news-gathering materials on behalf of a media organization;
- Obtaining judgment dismissing claims against a religious order accused of aiding and abetting its leader’s sexual misconduct;
- Representing the trustee of an ESOP accused of misconduct by the Department of Labor;
- Representing art collectors who had been sold counterfeit Art Deco goods;
- Obtaining the dismissal, on summary judgment, of claims that former New York City mayor David Dinkins and Police Commissioner Lee Brown committed civil rights violations arising from riots in Crown Heights, Brooklyn;
- Obtaining summary judgment dismissing First Amendment retaliation claims filed against high-ranking members of the New York State Police.