Biography

Since completing his federal court clerkship with The Honorable Louis C. Bechtle, former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Jim Rohn has tried and been involved as lead counsel in a wide variety of complex commercial litigation cases, representing clients in civil RICO, class actions, antitrust, insurance, securities, asset recovery, environmental, and legal malpractice cases. He has received national recognition as one of the country’s leading white collar defense lawyers, representing companies and individuals in grand jury investigations, internal corporate investigations and regulatory compliance proceedings.

Jim served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where he tried complex criminal cases, argued numerous times before the Third Circuit, conducted and supervised grand jury and undercover investigations, and participated in the prosecution of several major political corruption, securities and insurance fraud cases. The most significant of these were the Philadelphia ABSCAM case and United States v. Feinman, a groundbreaking insurance fraud and undercover case involving off-shore operations that tried for six weeks before Judge Joseph L. McGlynn, Jr. In 1983, Jim became the First Assistant United States Attorney and, for the next three years, supervised over 60 attorneys at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, formulated major policy initiatives, and was responsible for daily briefings and contacts with the press. He joined the firm in 1989 as Managing Shareholder, a position he held for more than 18 years. He now serves as the firm’s Chairman.

In addition to his litigation practice and firm leadership role, Jim has actively served the broader community. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) (1998-2008), where he was also Chair of the Audit Committee (2004-08). Jim served as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Cornerstone Christian Academy, a mission school for at-risk children in Southwest Philadelphia (1998-2010), where he has also served as Chair of the Board (2004-2007). Currently, Jim is a Member of the Cornerstone Christian Academy Trustee Advisory Board.  He is an Elder of the Hope Community Church.

Jim was a part-time faculty member at Temple University Law School and later Villanova University Law School, where he lectured on trial advocacy.

Representative Matters:

• Chief Counsel for corporations and individuals in numerous complex white collar criminal representations before United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, the Office of Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, resulting in declinations of prosecution. The most significant matters have included RICO, Hobbs Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Business Espionage Act, Antitrust Act, and False Claims Act cases.
• Successfully represented various top executives of a number of drug companies in civil litigation and criminal investigations involving a variety of issues relating to the pharmaceutical industry.
• Successfully represented a variety of individual and corporate clients in federal criminal investigations relating to internet pharmacy practices, off-label drug use, and Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
• Served as chief counsel of a team of the firm’s class action lawyers on behalf of an insurer in a nationwide consumer class action fraud case in state court in Louisville, Kentucky. Following lengthy discovery and many hearings, the court granted summary judgment on all claims in favor of the client and refused to certify the class.
• Served as chief counsel in defending a major telecommunications company in an antitrust case before Judge Robert F. Kelly in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sought approximately $60 million. At the close of plaintiff’s case, the court granted the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict and dismissed the case.
• Served as chief counsel for two plaintiffs, a leading oil company and a manufacturing company, in an environmental asset cost recovery and successor liability case before Chief Judge James T. Giles in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Following a preliminary injunction hearing and summary judgment arguments, the court granted the clients’ requests for injunction, froze defendants’ assets and granted summary judgment in the clients’ favor on a novel successor liability theory.
• Currently serves as chief counsel of a team of the firm’s class action lawyers on behalf of a leading insurance company in a nationwide consumer class action lawsuit filed in New Mexico state court alleging failure to disclose modal premium charges.
• Served as chief counsel on behalf of plaintiff, an insurance company, in a case alleging fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets against another insurance company in federal district court for the Western District of Wisconsin, in which the client sought tens of millions of dollars in damages as well as preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. The matter was placed on an accelerated schedule, involved triple-tracking depositions, and was set for a final hearing on the injunction and monetary claims, eight months after the action was initiated. One day before trial, prior to the court’s hearing on motions in limine and other pretrial matters, defendant settled.

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