John A. Taylor, Jr. is a partner at Horvitz & Levy LLP, where he has been practicing appellate law since 1993. Before joining the firm, John was a litigation associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. John graduated from Harvard Law School in 1985, and then clerked for Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Patrick J. Higginbotham. John served as chair of the California State Bar Association’s Committee on Appellate Courts, and was then appointed by California’s Chief Justice to serve on the Judicial Council Appellate Advisory Committee of California. He’s currently serving as the 2019-2020 president of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. A California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist, John has argued high-stakes appeals throughout California concerning legal issues of industry-wide importance, including several in the California Supreme Court. Among them are a groundbreaking matter addressing automobile manufacturers’ warranty liability (Gavaldon v. Daimler Chrysler) and an intellectual property case in which the court overturned a $15 million judgment against a coffee manufacturer based on alleged unauthorized use of the plaintiff’s image on labeling (Christoff v. Nestlé USA, Inc.). He’s also authored numerous amicus curiae briefs in the California Supreme Court.