Skip to Content

John P. Passarelli

Partner

John is a trial lawyer with extensive jury and bench trial experience as lead trial counsel. He concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation, at both the trial and appellate levels, with an emphasis on cases involving antitrust, intellectual property and information technology. His commercial litigation practice is national in scope. He has tried bench and jury trials in federal and state courts throughout the United States, including complex commercial cases tried in Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota and Virginia, in addition to the state of Nebraska where he resides.

In addition to his commercial litigation practice, John frequently advises directors and senior management on issues involving antitrust, intellectual property and technology and has been doing so for more than 40 years. His experience includes counseling Fortune 500 companies concerning the adoption and execution of antitrust compliance programs, programs concerning the acquisition and maintenance of intellectual property assets and programs relating to electronic transactions and records.

John has extensive appellate court experience having participated in appeals before the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. He served as appellate counsel in an antitrust case that was argued before the US Supreme Court in November of 2005. He also has handled appeals before state appellate courts.

John has achieved the highest ratings from his peers for quality of legal work, professionalism, ethics and trial experience. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has lectured, published articles and has extensive experience in the fields of antitrust, intellectual property and commercial litigation.

  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Appellate Practice, 2025; Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2025; Franchise Law, 2025; Litigation – Antitrust, 2025; Litigation – Intellectual Property, 2025; Litigation – Patent, 2025
  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
  • Martindale Hubbell® "AV" Rating
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Omaha "Lawyer of the Year," Appellate Practice   
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Omaha "Lawyer of the Year," Franchise Law; Litigation – Intellectual Property
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Omaha "Lawyer of the Year," Litigation - Intellectual Property
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Omaha "Lawyer of the Year," Franchise Law   
  • Chambers USA®, Leading Intellectual Property Attorney, Nebraska
  • Great Plains Super Lawyers® 2007-2024
  • Benchmark LitigationOne of Nebraska’s top commercial trial lawyers, published by Institutional Investor as a Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys