John F. Kent

Following his tenure as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia, John began working as a civil practitioner with primary focus on insurance defense in 1979. He enjoys an AV peer rating (highest) in Martindale Hubbell and has repeatedly been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer. He has handled all levels of insurance defense and has tried to verdict a variety of cases including asbestos, benzene-leukemia, medical malpractice, products liability, construction accidents and general negligence. He has served as national counsel for three corporations involved in the latex glove litigation and to date he has represented the only distributor defendant to secure a winning verdict following nine weeks of trial in New Hampshire. He also obtained a directed verdict in what was then the longest jury trial in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas history (5.5 months) in 1986.

Other highlights include setting the Daubert standard by successfully representing a major carpet manufacturer in a matter known as Heller v. Shaw Industries which became the law in the Third Circuit when he successfully challenged the experts in that litigation. Also, in a construction accident case involving a severely injured plaintiff, he secured a defense verdict which was appealed to the Supreme Court on issues which changed the law in the construction litigation in a matter known as Leonard v. PennDot, et al.

In addition to trying cases in various jurisdictions at the state and federal levels, John has lectured on litigation issues to a number of insurance carriers and defense organizations, including the Pennsylvania Defense Institute and has served as an instructor of criminal law at Temple University.

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