John P. Rowley III is the Co-chair of the firm's White Collar Criminal Defense Team. He is an experienced trial lawyer who practices in the areas of complex civil litigation and white collar criminal defense.
Mr. Rowley regularly represents government contractors in litigation with the federal government and in disputes involving other companies. He has substantial experience in defending False Claims Act cases. He also represents corporations in trade secret litigation and in cases involving the protection of intellectual property rights.
As a former federal prosecutor, Mr. Rowley devotes a significant part of his practice to representing companies in procurement fraud and other federal criminal cases. These matters range from responding to subpoenas to handling grand jury investigations and, if required, to representing companies and corporate executives at trial.
Mr. Rowley routinely works with in-house counsel and management to ensure regulatory compliance and to formulate the company's response to legal issues identified by internal investigations. His experience in this area includes internal investigations for defense contractors, health care companies and corporations in other industries.
In the summer of 2003, Mr. Rowley took a 90-day leave of absence from the firm to serve as Staff Director for the congressionally-mandated DoD Panel to Review Sexual Misconduct Allegations at the United States Air Force Academy. In that position, he led the staff investigation of misconduct at the Academy and played an important role in assisting the Panel prepare its report to the Secretary of Defense and the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.
Mr. Rowley joined Holland & Knight after serving during the first half of 1997 as Chief Counsel to the U. S. House of Representatives committee that investigated political campaign fund-raising improprieties and violations of campaign finance law.
Mr. Rowley formerly served as a federal prosecutor and represented the government in dozens of jury trials in United States District Court in cases involving fraud and public corruption charges to international drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering. Mr. Rowley worked as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1989 – 1997, first in the Southern District of West Virginia and then for six years in the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria Division). He served as Chief of the Narcotics Section for the United States Attorney's Office in Alexandria from 1994 – 1997.
During law school, Mr. Rowley was a member of the University of Richmond Law Review and the Omicron Delta Kappa Society. After graduation, he had the privilege of serving as law clerk to The Honorable John A. Field, Jr., Senior United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit.
Examples of litigation matters handled by Mr. Rowley include:
Government Contracting & False Claims Act
- represented government contractor in False Claims Act case brought by DoJ based on allegations of organizational conflict of interest (OCI)
- awarded specific performance of teaming agreement for a $150 million commercial subcontract in U.S. Navy/NASA project
- represented defense contractor in internal investigation of theft of procurement-sensitive data from competitor in DoD procurement
- represented defense contractor in internal investigation of OCI and theft of trade secrets from competitor in DoD tasking
- represented computer manufacturer in False Claims Act case
White Collar Criminal Defense
- represented DoD contractor in theft of trade secrets and Economic Espionage Act investigation conducted by the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office
- represented DoD contractor in bribery and conflict of interest investigation conducted by Army CID and the United States Attorney's Office
- represented national nursing home company in multiple Medicare fraud investigations conducted by the DoJ
- represented DoD contractor in DoJ Environmental Crimes Section and Customs investigation of importation of ozone-depleting chemicals
- represented General Officer in conflict of interest investigation arising from contacts with DoD within one year after retirement
Intellectual Property and Commercial
- jury verdict for Belgian textile company sued for $100 million by Swiss competitor which alleged infringement of its air jet weaving machine patents
- summary judgment against limited liability company member claiming a share of $70 million judgment for infringement of patent for reducing drag friction of petroleum flowing through a transmission pipeline
- represented encryption software company sued for infringement of patent for method to provide multi-level multi-media computer security
- successful defense of manufacturer of medical imaging equipment in injunction and lawsuit brought by competitor for alleged theft of trade secrets
- favorable settlement of fraud and conspiracy suit filed on behalf of oppressed minority shareholder "squeezed out" of limited liability company