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30 October 2025

In The Counsel's Chair: John Nadolenco On Leadership (Podcast)

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In the first episode of In the Counsel's Chair, John Nadolenco talks career moves, leadership lessons and his advice for younger attorneys.
United States Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration
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In the first episode of In the Counsel's Chair, John Nadolenco talks career moves, leadership lessons and his advice for younger attorneys.

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John Nadolenco didn't plan to become a class action defense specialist -- he made a strategic bet during the dot-com era that bigger, higher-stakes cases would define the future of Big Law.

Three decades later, as managing partner of Mayer Brown's Los Angeles office and after a series of high-stakes class action defense wins (including at the U.S. Supreme Court), he's proven himself right.

In this conversation, John shares how he approaches impossibly complex technology cases (hint: it involves a lot of YouTube), why he championed the fight against "no injury" class actions all the way to the Supreme Court, and how he balances trial work with leadership by waking up "crazy early." Plus: the one book about robots  that's reshaping how he thinks about AI in legal practice.

About John Nadolenco: John is the managing partner of Mayer Brown's Los Angeles office and global co-leader of the Technology Industry Group. He focuses on high-stakes cases and class action defense. His expertise includes defending consumer class actions and challenging inappropriate government regulations. Over the past year, John secured significant commercial litigation wins for the automotive industry in pivotal data privacy, tech, and consumer class action matters, including key wins for Karma Automotive LLC and General Motors.

Originally published by Daily Journal.

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