The Removal Epidemic: Subject Matter Jurisdiction Lessons from the Opioid Front

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

R. Johan Conrod Jr., Johan Conrod Law PLLC / Virginia Beach

Johan Conrod is a litigator with nearly 20 years of experience in state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate levels. A 2001 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, he has tried dozens of cases, including both jury and bench trials in the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia and numerous state circuit courts. He has argued appeals before the Supreme Court of Virginia and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. His Fourth Circuit appellate argument experience includes appeals involving federal subject matter jurisdiction in both the initial pleading and removal contexts.

Mr. Conrod is listed in Best Lawyers^® in America (2020, 2021 Antitrust), and has been recognized as a Virginia Super Lawyer and included on Virginia Business magazine’s list of Virginia’s Legal Elite. In 2018, he was the feature profile for Virginia Business’s Legal Elite issue in the appellate law category. He is a former president of the Tidewater Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and served on the editorial board of The Federal Lawyer, the national magazine of the FBA. Mr. Conrod is also the co-author of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals chapter in Appellate Practice—Virginia and Federal Courts (Virginia CLE^® 2016). In law school, he served on both the editorial and managing boards of the Virginia Law Review. Mr. Conrod serves as of counsel with the law firms of Sanford, Heisler, Sharp LLP and The Cicala Law Firm PLLC, and in those capacities represents dozens of municipalities in litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).