John K. Villa is a partner at Williams & Connolly who served on the firm’s Executive Committee from 2002 through 2017. John is Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Services and Banking Practice Group. He focuses on legal malpractice defense, corporate, securities and financial services–related litigation.
In 2024, Chambers named John a “Star Individual,” the publication’s highest honor, in its first–ever USA rankings in the category Law Firm Defense describing him as “the ultimate lawyers’ lawyer.” The Financial Times writes, “John Villa, of Williams & Connolly … has a reputation for being the lawyer that law firms turn to when in a spot of bother.” American Lawyer has called him “perhaps the premier [legal] malpractice defense lawyer in the nation.” Washington Post reports “John Villa of … Williams & Connolly [is] the lawyer and firm that lawyers and law firms turn to when they’re in trouble,” and describes him as “a litigator who has gained national prominence with a somewhat rare specialty: defending top–flight law firms in trouble.” The National Law Journal named John to its list of “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” as “the first lawyer that other attorneys and law firms turn to when caught up in the S&L and banking scandals.” Law360’s list of “6 Firms to Have on Speed Dial if Malpractice Trouble Hits,” puts John Villa and Williams & Connolly first. The American Lawyer writes “John Villa [has] made a career of getting law firms out of big trouble.
Chambers identified him in Tier 1 nationally for Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Enforcement and Investigations) from 2012-2023, and he has been named among the leading lawyers nationally and in the District of Columbia for Securities Litigation and General Commercial Litigation.
John’s lead trial experience includes a complete victory for a client in a $1.6 billion confidential arbitration arising out of the largest Ponzi scheme in history. His successful trial victory in In the Matter of USAT was described by American Lawyer as “the longest trial arising from the savings and loan crisis” – a “trial that stretched over 18 months” and resulted in a decision that “exonerated [his client] on all counts” “a crushing defeat for the federal agency that brought the case.” American Lawyer later named him “Litigator in the Spotlight” – “Lawyers’ lawyer, John Villa … scored three big wins for law firm clients this spring,” and on yet another occasion named him “Litigator of the Week” for a Second Circuit victory.
John has authored the following treatises: Banking Crimes: Fraud, Money Laundering and Embezzlement (2 vol.) (Thompson), Bank Directors’ and Officers’ and Lawyers’ Civil Liabilities (Wolters Kluwer), and Corporate Counsel Guidelines (2 vol.), (co-published by Thompson and Association of Corporate Counsel).
Updated Sep 2024
