LaDue Curran Kuehn — Attorneys: John D. LaDue

John D. LaDue

John concentrates his practice in the area of business litigation. He has extensive experience representing businesses in a wide variety of commercial contract disputes, litigation involving trade secrets and covenants not to compete, trademark and copyright litigation, defending employment discrimination lawsuits, and in advising businesses in traditional labor relations matters. In these practice areas, John has gained substantial experience in preliminary injunction proceedings, trials, appeals, and alternative dispute resolution. For example, John has:

defended an automobile manufacturer through a preliminary injunction hearing and the opponent's subsequent appeal in a complex trademark infringement case (See AM General and General Motors v. DaimlerChrysler, 311 F.3d 796 (7th Cir. 2002));
represented a restaurant franchisee in arbitration proceedings to resolve a multi-million dollar commercial real estate dispute;
represented an orthopedic device manufacturer in state and federal litigation involving employment contract disputes and non-compete agreements;
represented a major international paper company in multi-million dollar contract litigation in U.S. District Court;
defended automobile parts suppliers in a variety of contract disputes;
defended a variety of Fortune 500 companies and local, family-owned businesses against employment discrimination claims before the EEOC and in U.S. District Court; and
advised and assisted numerous corporate clients in their efforts to manage day-to-day labor and employment matters and prevent business disputes.

John served twelve years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps. Between 1990 and 1996, he was assigned as a Judge Advocate and gained extensive courtroom experience as lead counsel in approximately 30 jury trials, including four capital murder cases. John was honorably discharged from the service in 1996, having obtained the rank of Major.

From 1996 through February 2001, John practiced in the South Bend office of a national full-service firm law firm headquartered in Indiana. He worked in the firm's Labor and Employment Department and served on the firm's recruiting committee. From March 2001 through January 2008, John was a partner in a general civil litigation firm in South Bend. In 2007, 2008, and 2009, John was recognized as one of Indiana's Super Lawyers. In 2008, John co-founded LaDue Curran & Kuehn LLC.

John is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts in Indiana and Michigan and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He is a member of the St. Joseph County Bar Association, Indiana Bar Association, American Bar Association, and Robert A. Grant Inn of Court.

John has served as an adjunct professor at the Valparaiso University School of Law, where he taught labor law. He has also taught trial advocacy at the Naval Justice School in Newport, RI. Since 2004, John has been an adjunct professor of law at Notre Dame Law School, where he teaches in the Deposition Skills Course, which is part of Notre Dame's trial advocacy curriculum.

John was born in Dearborn, Michigan. He received a B.A. in political science from Michigan State University in 1984. John graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 1990 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Notre Dame Law Review.