John F. Thomas, Jr., Esq. formed his own practice as a solo practitioner over fifteen years ago. As a true solo, John answers his own phones, reads his own mail, does his own typing, and works directly with small business clients like you as your “Virtual In-House Counsel.” With no big firm overhead in his Mount Laurel, NJ practice, John is able to be responsive and economical, providing the same kinds of sophisticated legal services that larger commercial firms can provide, but without the “Big Law” style file-churning or nickel-and-dime billing practices.
John’s unique business model provides you with a level of service and flexibility previously unfound in the traditional lawyer/client relationship. For example — John will happily travel to your place of business to meet you, instead of you having to pack up and come visit your lawyer. Since your business is where your information and knowledgeable employees are, it minimizes the interruption to your day when you have to meet with your attorney, and lets you get right back to work.
Rather than living his live in tenth-of-an-hour increments, John prefers to work on fixed-fee engagements whenever possible. This provides John’s clients with the security of knowing their legal fees are predetermined and not open-ended, and eliminates the dreaded “I have a quick question, but don’t want to pay a lawyer $50 for a 7-minute phone call to answer it” anxiety that many small businesspeople face on a daily basis.
As a solo, John is answerable only to his clients, not to some firm’s partnership compensation committee. Therefore, John is able to make quality legal services available and affordable to any business, no matter how small or large.
John graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 with a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. He attended Widener University School of Law and graduated with a J.D. in 1994. John is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts of New Jersey and Delaware (inactive).
John began his career in Wilmington, Delaware in 1992, clerking for a small, boutique firm that practiced construction law and architects/engineers defense. He began practice in 1994 upon his admission to the Delaware bar, building a commercial law practice within the construction law firm, servicing the business needs of tradespeople and contractors in the Tri-State area.
In 1998, John began practicing business law at a mid-sized commercial law firm in Center City, Philadelphia. During the dot.com boom, John helped local tech companies take their businesses to venture capitalists, build out products, and navigate rapid growth. John learned how to do startups, roll-ups, financing transactions (both venture and conventional) and represented clients ranging from banks, to barbers, to brokerage firms, and just about everything in between that may (or may not) begin with “B.”
In the early 2000’s, after the dot.com bubble had popped, John helped many businesspeople make “soft landings” after their new ventures failed or failed to be funded. This is where John learned to work on the exit side of business ventures, helping businesspeople reorganize (both in bankruptcy and out-of-court workouts), sell assets, liquidate, merge, or simply go out of business.
With over 25 years’ experience serving clients in the Delaware Valley, John has had the opportunity to advise small businesses of all kinds on topics, including: employee issues, contracts with vendors, financing transactions, loans, purchases, real estate matters, leases, startups, formations, business successions, buy/sell agreements, partnership agreements, shareholder matters, litigation, collections, debt service, cash flow problems, expansion, sales, customer issues, mechanics’ liens, and business bankruptcy issues.
John’s initial consultation with business clients is always free of charge. Contact John below, and give him the opportunity to bring Clarity to your business, too.