John E. Keefe, Jr.
Managing Partner
+1 732 224-9400, ext.202
Key Practice Areas
- Personal Injury
- Mass Tort Litigation
- Complex Litigation
- Consumer Fraud
- Class Actions
Primary Focus & Experience
John is the former president of the New Jersey State Bar Association. As president, his significant achievements included building diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, launching a mentoring program for new lawyers and leveling the malpractice playing field.
A Certified Civil Trial Attorney, he has devoted much of his time to civil trial practice throughout the State and Federal Courts of New Jersey specializing in negligence and product liability as well as complex mass tort and class action litigation. He founded Keefe Law Firm in 1996 and leads our plaintiffs’ personal injury, mass tort litigation and complex litigation department. John has tried numerous matters to verdict and prosecuted hundreds of cases on behalf of victims of catastrophic loss.
Significant Representations
- Appointed by the Superior Court as plaintiffs liaison counsel in an historic consumer fraud national class action, Talalai v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (Docket No.: MID-L-8830-00-MT ) the settlement of which is valued at between $1,000,000,000and $3,000,000,000 to consumers.
- Lead counsel on behalf of plaintiffs in one of the largest pollution cases in New Jersey, Janes v. Ciba Geigy Corporation (Docket No.: MID-L- 1669-01-MT).
- Served as local counsel in the securities class action litigation, In Re Sears, Roebuck & Co. Securities Litigation (Docket No. 02-C-07527) which resulted in a $215,000,000 cash settlement.
- Resolved a complex wrongful death case on behalf of a young widow and small children against New Jersey Transit Corporation for Wrongful Death Caused by Electrocution and Severe Burns for $10,000,000.00
- Served as liaison counsel in In Re Royal Dutch/Shell Transport Securities Litigation – (Civil Action No.: 04-374 (JWB)) before Judge Joel Pisano and the Hormone Replacement Therapy Litigation (Docket No.: ATL-2093-04 MT) before Judge Carol E. Higbee.
- Served as co-counsel in a national consumer fraud class settlement in Chicago, Illinois on behalf of thousands of consumers nationwide.
- Co-counsel in $30 million false advertising class action lawsuit Imran Chaudhri v. Osram Sylvania Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
- Additional matters include: motor vehicle wrongful death, product liability, premises liability, burn injuries, worksite OSHA violations, hospital negligence wrongful death and long term care negligence involving burns and wrongful death.
Publications
NJSBA, Presidents Perspective
Author: Chapter 11, “Attorney’s Fees in Class Actions” in 2020 New Jersey Mass Torts & Class Actions Treatise
Commitment to Professionalism Critical for All Attorneys
New Jersey Lawyer No. 315/December 2018
Tree of Life Synagogue, Words Matter
New Jersey State Bar Association President’s Message/October 2018
NJSBA Mentor Match Needs You
New Jersey Lawyer No. 314/October 2018
Doing Good Together, for the NJSBA and Profession
New Jersey Lawyer No. 313/August 2018
Leading Lawyers Forward, Together
New Jersey Lawyer No. 312/June 2018
Appointments & Recognition
New Jersey State Bar Association
- Immediate Past President, May 2019
- President, May 2018
- Treasurer, Secretary 2013
Civil Trial Section Exec. Committee, 1998-Present
Civil Trial Section Chair, 2010-2012
New Jersey State Bar Foundation
- Trustee
Trial Attorneys of New Jersey, 1999 – 2010
- Past President 2007
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
- Transition Team Member
- Governor’s Advisory Committee Executive Order
Memberships
Fellows of the American Bar Foundation New Jersey Chapter
New Jersey State Bar Association
Monmouth County Bar Association
Middlesex County Bar Association
American Association for Justice
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Education
Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, New Jersey J.D., 1990
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania B.A., English Literature, 1987
Admissions
New Jersey, 1990
U.S. District Court District of New Jersey, 1990
District of Columbia, 2005
U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida, 2005
Certification / Specialties
- Certified Civil Trial Attorney, New Jersey Supreme Court, 2004
- Certified Civil Trial Recertification 2010
Clerkships
Hon. Kenneth C. MacKenzie J.S.C., Law Clerk, 1990 – 1991
Past Employment
- Lynch Martin, Co-Managing Partner, 1996-2006
- Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, Associate, 1991 – 1996
Speaking Engagements
- NJSBA Annual Meeting May 2020: “New Knowledge for the New Normal: Civil Litigation in the Pandemic”
- “A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective – Opioids, tobacco, Vaping, Critical Thinking, Life in the Law” – Gettysburg College, PA, February 2019 and St. Peter’s University, Jersey City, NJ, October 2019
- Opioid Discussion/Kolodny for October, 2018
- Mentoring at NJ Judicial College, November 2018
- Opioid Panel at NJSBA Annual Meeting
- NJSBA Annual Meeting May 2014: Everything You Need to Know About Successfully Managing Track I & Track II Cases Under the New Mandatory Expedited Handling Program – Civil Trial Bench Bar Conference
- Speaker: Civil Litigation a La Italiana: Rome, Italy November 2013
- “So You Think You Want To Be A Lawyer” Presentation, CBA High School Future Business Leaders of America, October, 2013
- Panelist: Class Action Update, NJAJ Boardwalk Seminar 2013, April 18, 2013
- Moderator: NJSBA Best Practices Civil Trial Bench-Bar Conference, May 18, 2012
- Panelist: Class Action Update, NJAJ Boardwalk Seminar 2012, April 25, 2012
- “So You Think You Want To Be A Lawyer” Presentation, New Egypt High School Business Law Class, May 23, 2011
- Panelist: “Solo Firm Marketing Panel” Seminar: Water Club at the Borgata Hotel Atlantic City, NJ, Solo Firm Marketing Panel, May 18, 2011 – Present
- “Successfully Working with a Special Master for Maximum Results” Webinar: May 3, 2011, May 3, 2011
- Experts by Experts/Class Action Symposium/Hot Topic Seminars, CLE/NJSB, 1998 – 2005
- Environmental Meetings, (Chicago, Illinois), 2005, Panelist
- Natural Resource Damage Cases (Houston, Texas), Panelist
