John Libby

John helps counsel and their clients resolve complex commercial disputes across a variety of industries, including healthcare and financial services, by understanding the facts, building trust, and navigating the emotions that are inevitable in almost every case. As a mediator, John believes in persistence and patience, taking the time to understand each side’s position and guiding the parties to mutually satisfactory solutions. As an arbitrator, John respects the parties’ process, ensuring that arbitrations are fair, efficient, and cost-effective. As settlement counsel, John assists counsel and parties with case evaluations, risk analysis and settlement negotiations.

For nearly 40 years as a practicing lawyer, John honed these dispute resolution skills, litigating numerous complex and challenging business and commercial cases in state and federal courts, arbitration proceedings, and government investigations and enforcement actions, and trying nearly two dozen trials and arbitrations to judgment. After gaining experience as a litigation associate at two national law firms and as a federal prosecutor, John joined Manatt Phelps & Phillips as a partner in 1995. At Manatt, he developed and managed significant institutional client engagements in several industries, including healthcare and financial services. For these clients, John served as the primary litigation and white-collar partner, handling their most complex and sensitive matters.

As a lawyer, John also undertook many sensitive internal investigations in response to inquiries by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, with a resulting unique perspective on the internal dynamics of corporations. John’s legal work also resulted in frequent international travel and interactions with counsel and clients in many jurisdictions, including the U.K., Switzerland, Israel, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, China, Hong Kong, and India. John also handled significant official and ad hoc management responsibilities at Manatt, including serving on the Board and Associate Review Committee and supervising the Litigation and White-Collar Practice Groups.

John has participated in dozens of mediations and arbitrations as counsel and brings to his work as a dispute resolution professional his years of broad, industry-focused, and client-centered experience.

After retiring from Manatt, John founded Libby ADR in February 2024.