John Camp is a member of Ice Miller’s Litigation Group, concentrating in the areas of product liability, drug and medical device, and insurance coverage and recovery litigation. John’s practice is predominantly in federal court. He focuses, in his product liability practice, primarily on the defense of pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and in his insurance coverage practice, on commercial first- and third-party insurance coverage disputes. He also has experience litigating general business disputes, business torts and intellectual property matters and has served as local counsel in a number of patent infringement cases in the Southern District of Florida.
In his product liability practice, John has represented manufacturers in individual and mass tort matters involving a wide array of products, including prescription drugs, medical devices, agricultural chemicals and railway (asbestos) and automotive products. He has served as national and case-specific coordinating council in a number mass personal injury and wrongful death matters, leading teams of lawyers in all aspects of the defense of such claims. He regularly works with lawyers around the country in the defense of product liability claims. He is the past co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Product Liability Committee’s Pharmaceutical Subcommittee.
In his insurance coverage practice, John has broad experience representing both insurers and policyholders in first- and third-party coverage disputes. He has represented policyholders in coverage disputes under first-party commercial property policies and third-party comprehensive general liability policies. He has also defended commercial property insurers in large, complex, first-party coverage matters—including claims involving defective construction, windstorms, exposure to environmental conditions and other perils—and in connection with a variety of claims made under third-party comprehensive general liability and professional liability policies.
John has written numerous articles in a variety of publications, including articles on the learned intermediary doctrine in DRI’s For the Defense magazine and the Florida Bar Journal. He has also written articles on a variety of insurance coverage topics, including the disclosure of reinsurance agreements in coverage disputes, ordinance or law coverage and business interruption. John has participated as a moderator and panelist in national seminars on drug and medical device litigation and insurance coverage. Additionally, he has given a number of presentations on a variety of topics, including the attorney-client privilege, discovery, insurance coverage and voting rights and elections.
John serves on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights organization formed in 1963 at the request of President Kennedy, to enlist the private bar’s leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity. Since 2008, he has co-led the Florida volunteer lawyer effort of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Election Protection project, a nationwide nonpartisan voter protection program designed to ensure voters are able to exercise their right to vote. In connection with his election protection efforts, after the 2012 presidential election, John testified before the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, addressing ballot access issues in Miami-Dade County, Fla. Additionally, he has served as a panelist at the ABA Standing Committee on Election Law’s 2014 regional town hall and 2017 roundtable discussion. He is also involved in the Lawyers’ Committee’s Stop the Hate Project, begun in 2017 to combat the increase in hate crimes across the country by marshalling the resources in support of community organizations battling hate in a variety of contexts.
In 2008, John joined with other leaders from local businesses, civic organizations and educational institutions in Miami, Fla. to form the Community Learning Partnership of Greater Miami Shores (“CLP”), a consortium of public and private schools and Barry University, whose mission is to share educational opportunities and facilitate social awareness, development and outreach among students and teachers.
For the past several years, John has served on a committee under the umbrella of Miami Shores Village whose mission is to make Miami Shores a more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly community. That effort resulted in Miami Shores being recognized in 2017 as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, the nation’s most prominent cycling advocacy group.
He has also served as a judge in the Miami-Dade County Teen Court program, a peer-sanctioning courtroom program for first-time misdemeanor youthful offenders.
John earned his law degree from the University of Florida and was an editor on The Florida Law Review. He joined Ice Miller in May 2017. Before joining Ice Miller, he was a shareholder at Carlton Fields in Miami for fourteen years and, before that, a partner at Reed Smith in Pittsburgh, PA. He is admitted to practice law in Florida and Pennsylvania.
John is married to Laura McDermott-Camp and has a daughter, Lily. He is a native of Miami and a seventh-generation Floridian. He remembers when the Dolphins were good.