John McDonald, shareholder at Cozen O'Connor. Courtesy photo

After spending almost two decades at Cozen O'Connor client Toll Brothers, including the last 10 as the company's general counsel and chief compliance officer, John McDonald has returned to Cozen as a Philadelphia-based shareholder in the firm's commercial litigation practice.

"It was an amazing 18-year run at a great company. It really rounded me out as a business lawyer," McDonald said. "But I went to law school to be a trial lawyer and I'm ready to get back in the courtroom."

McDonald said he maintained a close relationship with Michael Heller, Cozen O'Connor's executive chairman and CEO, and Stephen Cozen, founder and chairman of the firm, over the years, which helped pave the way for his return.

"Today's business litigation is more demanding than ever. The stakes are higher and the cases are much more complex," Heller said in a statement. "As a Fortune 500 general counsel for the last 10 years, John brings to us the business acumen today's commercial litigators need to assess major, multidistrict corporate disputes and develop a legal strategy that best fits the business needs of the enterprise."

McDonald began his career in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office in 1990, prosecuting over 30 jury trials and hundreds of bench trials, according to the firm. McDonald then started his first stint at Cozen O'Connor in 1995, remaining until 2002.

He described himself as having a bit of a "mercenary" practice when he first started—assigned to wherever the firm needed him.

"Cozen was already growing at that point, so I did a little employment work, some insurance work, some fraud work," McDonald said.

In 2002 McDonald left to join Horsham, Pennsylvania-based home construction company Toll Brothers as the company's chief litigation counsel. McDonald worked his way up the corporate ladder at Toll, eventually becoming the company's general counsel in 2010.

"I had the good fortune of working with John when he first joined Cozen O'Connor and I am thrilled to have him back at the firm," James Heller, co-chair of the firm's commercial litigation department, said in a statement. "John's career from prosecutor to civil litigator to C-suite executive of a public company and trusted adviser to the company's executive management team and board of directors has shaped him into one of the most well-rounded, 'bet your company' litigators in the field."

McDonald acknowledged that, just as when he arrived fresh from the DA's office, he's joining again without a broad stable of existing clients.

"I do not bring a book of business," he stated. "That is going to be a priority for me in the first couple of years. But I do have a rich network of connections from my time at Toll, and I intend to call on those people."

McDonald said that despite his long-standing relationship with the firm, he is still producing a formal business plan that illustrates the industries and particular potential clients he will target.

"The practice of law has changed quite a bit in 18 years," he said. "But I have stayed up to date on it."

Cozen O'Connor, currently ranked 76 in the Am Law 100, has steadily been climbing since 2015, when the firm was ranked 103. The firm has also enjoyed a surge in head count and revenue, with 665 lawyers generating $472 million in 2018.

McDonald said that while the firm has changed and grown, there are elements that have remained the same.

"It is still a really talented group of lawyers," he said.

McDonald said one of the bigger changes he is going to have to learn to deal with is no longer being in the C-suite and automatically having a seat the table when important decisions are made.

"I am a working lawyer who is trying to build a book of business," he said. "And that's exciting."

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