John J. McAvoy

John J. McAvoy has mediated hundreds of cases for the District of Columbia and federal trial and appellate courts. He also has participated in training mediators for the Superior Court Multidoor Program, and mentored younger mediators. His mediation experience has involved torts, contracts, termination of business relationships, and a broad range of other areas, including claims based on District or Federal statutes.

Mr. McAvoy graduated from the University of Idaho Law School, and then obtained an LL.M from Yale, majoring in legal philosophy and civil procedure. He thereafter taught at the George Washington University Law School, before entering the private practice of law with White & Case, first in New York and then in the District of Columbia. His legal career centered on litigation, principally involving large commercial disputes. His pro bono litigation has included cases at the appellate level in the constitutional areas of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments, effectiveness of counsel, speedy trial and death penalty. He is admitted to the bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, five U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and several trial courts.

Since 2001 he has been a Commissioner for the District on the Uniform Law Commission, an important drafting source of state and D.C. law, and from 2016 to 2021 was a member of the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission. He served two three-year terms on the Bar’s DC Ethics Committee, including two years as its chairman. He served as a member of the Committee on Grievances for the federal District Court. He has lectured on professional ethics to lawyers recently admitted to the Bar. He has also taught legal ethics at the Washington College of Law at American University; and served on the faculty of Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Clinics. He particularly enjoys mediating cases involving the legal profession.