Juan Jose (John) is a founding member Ohio’s largest Hispanic-owned law firm. Opened in January 1997, he was joined by Troy Morris two years later to form Perez & Morris LLC. Prior to opening his own office, John was General Counsel and Vice President of Administration for a publicly traded $150 million company. He was responsible for all legal aspects of this international company and its subsidiaries and supervised the company’s domestic and international counsel. John also supervised the company’s human resources, risk management and administrative functions.

His main practice is corporate transaction, real estate, and commercial and construction litigation, where he has achieved successful jury verdicts and arbitration/mediation results including many in excess of millions of dollars.

From 1987 to 1994, John was with a major Columbus, Ohio, law firm, first as an associate and later as a partner. He was involved in all aspects of litigating minor and major commercial and employment cases throughout the country.

Prior to 1987, John served as a law clerk to Federal District Court Judge Nicholas J. Walinski in Toledo, Ohio. John and his wife, Joan, have three sons and five grandchildren. He is active in church and community activities and is fluent in Spanish.

Admissions

Florida

Ohio

Pennsylvania

New York

MEMBERSHIPS, BOARD POSITIONS & COMMUNITY SERVICE

Current & Past

• Vista Village, Inc., Founder
• Center for Community Values, Inc.
• The National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, Inc., Member
• Columbus First Bank, Board of Directors, Asset Liability Committee, Information Technology and Loan Committees, Member
• Mount Carmel Health System, Board of Directors Chair, Member
• Columbus Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Member
• University of Toledo Board of Trustees, Member
• National Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, Governance Committee, Member
• Make-A-Wish Foundation of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, Past Chair, Governance Board
• Task Force on Hispanic Affairs, Member
• National Kidney Foundation Serving Ohio Board, Member
• Columbus Crew Foundation Board, Member
• Ohio Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Member
• The Gathering, Advisory Board, Member
• Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Council, Member
• Franklin County Foster Parent Association, Member
• Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, Commissioner
• United Way of Franklin County, Planning, Evaluation and Allocations Committee, Volunteer
• National Association of Women Business Owners, Columbus Chapter, Advisory Board, Member