John DeGroote is a former global company general counsel who has mediated and arbitrated complex commercial and business disputes nationwide since 2013. Having served as a chief litigation counsel, general counsel, company president, and corporate director, he understands the legal, business, and practical decisions that often determine whether a case settles or not.
A different perspective.
John DeGroote is a former global company general counsel who has mediated and arbitrated complex commercial and business disputes nationwide since 2013. Having served as a chief litigation counsel, general counsel, company president, and corporate director, he understands the legal, business, and practical decisions that often determine whether a case settles or not.
John has seen mediation from every chair in the mediation room and from one or two that are outside it. Prior to starting his ADR practice, John served as the lead settlement negotiator in hundreds of cases, mediating and negotiating settlements in more than 20 states as Chief Litigation Counsel and, later, General Counsel to a publicly traded global consulting firm. John’s subsequent service as a company president and board member gives him an additional perspective — he has also been the executive back at the home office that got the call for more settlement authority as impasse loomed.
Before beginning his ADR practice, John served in legal and executive leadership roles with KPMG Consulting (later BearingPoint), where he was Chief Litigation Counsel, General Counsel, and later President. Earlier in his career, he practiced with McKool Smith and Jackson Walker and held in-house positions with First USA and Paymentech.
John earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1990 and his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University in 1986. He later completed mediation training through Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution in 2005 and arbitration training through the American Arbitration Association in 2016.
John has also been active in leadership roles within the legal profession and the Dallas community.
John has also been inducted into the Lawdragon 500 Hall of Fame, named 2027 and 2024 Dallas-Fort Worth “Lawyer of the Year” for Mediation by The Best Lawyers in America, elected to the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, and admitted to the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals as both a mediator and as an arbitrator. A complete list of honors and recognitions is available here.
John lives in Dallas with his wife, their special-needs son, and the family’s two rescue labs. Their two other sons return home often, but never often enough. A former Scoutmaster and Cubmaster, John enjoys family time in their East Texas cabin, which he is happy to say has selective cell coverage. A little more on John’s background can be found on this interview summary posted by the State Bar of Texas ADR Section.
