John Stephen Stapleton

A trial and appellate lawyer, John Stapleton focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation and serves clients from a wide variety of industries, including financial institutions, real estate companies and government agencies. 

In 2014, he was one of the lead attorneys for the firm in Whitewood v. Wolf, obtaining the landmark ruling declaring Pennsylvania’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples to be unconstitutional. In 2011, he conducted oral argument during the first-ever televised proceedings of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The Legal Intelligencer named John a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” in 2014. As one of 36 attorneys selected to be on this list, he is considered to be a future leader of the legal community in Pennsylvania. As a result of a statewide survey of lawyers, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers magazine has named him a “Rising Star” every year since 2012.

John is extremely active in the Philadelphia and New Jersey communities. He currently is the Chair of the Southern Jersey Advisory Board to Devereux – New Jersey, a leading nonprofit behavioral health organization. John also is a member of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Legal Advisory Committee and the University of Pennsylvania Law School American Inn of Court. John also was a member of the 2010-2011 Core Class of LEADERSHIP - Philadelphia, Inc. Leadership's mission is to mobilize the talent of the private sector to work on behalf of the community and serve as the hub of a diverse professional network.

John graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He received his undergraduate degree with high honors from Rutgers University (Rutgers College). While in law school, he was a member of University of Pennsylvania Law Review, where he served as Research Editor on the Editorial Board. He also taught first-year students legal writing as an Arthur Littleton and H. Clayton Louderback Legal Writing Instructor.

From 2002 to 2003, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Edward Rafeedie, Senior United States District Judge for the Central District of California (Los Angeles). Prior to joining Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, John practiced in the litigation department of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York.

John is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.