John D. Sloan, Jr.

Partner

Areas of Expertise:

  • Trial and Arbitration
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction
  • Real Estate Litigation
  • Homeowner Association Disputes
  • Labor and Employment Litigation
  • Commercial Lease Disputes
  • Personal Injury Litigation
  • Representing Victims of Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct

Practice Emphasis:

John Sloan is a trial lawyer and founder of Sloan Attorneys.  Mr. Sloan has obtained countless favorable jury verdicts for his clients, including a top 30 jury verdict in the State of Texas for the victim of a sexual assault in 2017. Before founding Sloan Attorneys, Mr. Sloan was a senior partner in a large Texas law firm.

Mr. Sloan has vast experience in all aspects of commercial and residential construction, commercial litigation, personal injury and sexual assault matters. Mr. Sloan represents general contractors, homebuilders, developers and owners in drafting and negotiating construction contracts, minimizing risk in construction operations, and litigating/arbitrating a wide array of matters and disputes.

Mr. Sloan also handles commercial and residential real estate litigation including disputes involving purchase and sale agreements, leases, construction defects, and environmental contamination.

Mr. Sloan also represents victims of sexual assault and inappropriate relationships between teachers and students.

Mr. Sloan's clients range from publicly traded companies and large privately held corporations to small companies and individuals.

Representative Matters:

Mr. Sloan has extensive experience trying cases in state and federal courts, as well as arbitrations throughout the country.

His representative matters include:

  • Mr. Sloan represented an 11-year-old victim of sexual assault at the hands of one of his teachers. Mr. Sloan tried the case over 2 weeks in Dallas County and received a top 30 jury verdict in the State of Texas for 2017.
  • Mr. Sloan represented the Joint Venture that designed and constructed one of the largest Ethanol plants in the United States in a dispute involving alleged defects in the plant's design and construction, with an amount in controversy exceeding $14 million. After a four-week arbitration in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Sloan received a successful verdict in his client's behalf.
  • Mr. Sloan represents a large investor in low income housing projects in matters relating to construction defects, partnership disputes and development  issues.
  • Mr. Sloan represented an investor in a lighting company against the previous owners for breach of a non-competition agreement and breach of fiduciary duties pursuant to the purchase agreement.
  • Mr. Sloan brought an action on behalf of a general contractor against a prominent state hospital for breach of the construction contract before the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Mr. Sloan negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement in favor of his client.
  • Mr. Sloan represented an owner of a large warehouse in the DFW International Commerce Park against the developer of the project claiming construction defects in the warehouse.  Mr. Sloan arbitrated the dispute on behalf of his client and Mr. Sloan’s client was awarded a multi-million dollar award by the arbitrators.
  • A real estate investment firm sued a consulting engineer for breach of contract, negligence and fraud, claiming that the engineer acted improperly while conducting a property condition assessment prior to the firm’s purchase of a commercial building. Damages of more than $2.5 million were claimed. Mr. Sloan tried the case on behalf of the engineer, and received a verdict in favor of his client on all counts.
  • Mr. Sloan represented a large national homebuilder against a group of 90-plus homeowners suing their builder claiming exposure to sewer gas, allegedly resulting in hydrogen sulfide poisoning leading to brain injury. Damages of $60 million were claimed. Mr. Sloan tried the case before a summary jury and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the builder.
  • Mr. Sloan represented a manufacturing company against a warehouse developer in a case involving structural defects in the facility purchased by Mr. Sloan's client. Mr. Sloan negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement in favor of his client.
  • Mr. Sloan represented a bank against its general contractor and its architect for construction and design defects resulting in water damage of the bank. Mr. Sloan arbitrated the matter and after completing the arbitration negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement in favor of his client.
  • Mr. Sloan represented a large national homebuilder against a group of approximately 50 homeowners suing their builder claiming that the builder had made misrepresentations about the property adjacent to their homes. Mr. Sloan tried the case on behalf of the builder, and the jury found that no misrepresentations were made and that the builder did not breach any duty owed to the homeowners.
  • Mr. Sloan argued before the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, concerning an insurance carrier’s duty to defend a homebuilder under a general liability insurance policy. The Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the builder and ordered that the carrier pay for the builder’s defense.
  • Mr. Sloan brought an appeal before the Texas Supreme Court arguing that a trial court's ruling was erroneous when it held that the scope of an arbitration clause failed to cover the subject matter of the homeowner's dispute against the builder. The Supreme Court overruled the trial court in favor of Mr. Sloan's client in a published opinion, which will serve to aid builders and other businesses seeking to uphold the validity of arbitration clauses in the future.

Education:

  • J.D., California Western School of Law (1994)
  • B.A., University of Texas at Austin (1991)

Professional Affiliations:

  • Member, State Bar of Texas
    • Construction Law Section
  • Member, Dallas Bar Association
  • Member, National Association of Homebuilders
  • Member, Texas Association of Builders
  • Member, Associated Builders and Contractors of North Texas
  • Member, The Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas
  • Member, Builders Association of Fort Worth and Tarrant County

Honors and Awards:

  • Recognized, Texas Rising Star (2004 - 2005), Super Lawyers®, a Thomson Reuters business
    • Construction/Surety

Publications and Speeches:

Publications

  • Author, But I Thought My Insurance Covered That: The Erosion of Coverage for Property Damage Claims Under Commercial General Liability Policies, Tex. Builder (Mar./Apr. 2002).
  • Author, The Texas Residential Construction Liability Act: Framework for Change, 27 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 1-31 (1996).

Speeches

  • Frequent Speaker, Construction Industry Trade Groups on Relevant Legal Topics, including:
    • Contractual Risk Transfer
    • Defending Claims Under the Residential Construction Liability Act
    • Defending Labor Claims
    • Insurance Issues
    • Arbitration agreements