John McKnight - Washington, DC

John McKnight is a Partner at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight and a Co-Chair of the firm’s Whistleblower and Qui Tam Practice Group.

Since joining the firm, he has been named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Civil Rights and Plaintiff Employment Lawyers from 2021 through 2024.

At Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, John’s practice has focused on representing corporate whistleblowers who have exposed securities fraud and banking misconduct. He has also worked with clients alleging government contract procurement fraud and other corporate malfeasance. He has also represented executives in sensitive wrongful discharge and discrimination cases. John’s representations have included:

• Representing the former Executive Vice President and Chief Security Officer of Wells Fargo who assisted the OCC, SEC, and DOJ in recovering $3.5 billion in fines and penalties arising out of the “fake account” scandal
• Representing the former Director of Contracts at Navistar who alleged that Navistar misrepresented its pricing structure to the DOD and overcharged the Government in the MRAP vehicle purchase, resulting in Navistar agreeing to pay $50 million to settle this case in 2020
• Representing a former sales representative at Office Depot who alleged the company intentionally overcharged several states millions of dollars for office products, resulting in the case settling in 2015 for $68 million
• Representing a former analyst at Fortinet who alleged that the Sunnyvale-based company was intentionally mislabeling Chinese cybersecurity products as being made in America and resulting in the case settling in 2019 for $545,000
• Obtaining a settlement for an undisclosed amount for a former Vice President of Outcome Media Health who alleged that the company was committing widespread advertising fraud and faced retaliation as a result
• Obtaining a $22.8 million customs fraud settlement for the misclassification of vitamin imports in violation of U.S. tariff laws and the False Claims Act.

John received his law degree from the University of Maryland, his master’s degree from The New School, and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. While at the University of Maryland, he interned with the Human Rights Team at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and with the Honorable Henry H. Kennedy Jr. (Retired) of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Honorable William Jackson of the District of Columbia Superior Court, and the Honorable Deborah Robinson, Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. He also participated in the University of Maryland’s International and Comparative Law Clinic in China, where he worked with actors in the Chinese microcredit industry. He learned Mandarin Chinese in preparation for this clinic.

A member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars, John regularly speaks on panels for the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and Taxpayers Against Fraud. He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bar associations and Taxpayers Against Fraud.

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, John worked for McKnight and Kennedy, LLC. with his father Vincent McKnight, where he gained substantial experience in the False Claims Act and Dodd-Frank, among other enforcement statutes.

When John is not lawyering, he enjoys reading science fiction, riding motorcycles, and watching Washington Wizards basketball.

News

• Facebook Whistleblower Testimony Shines A Light On Credibility Factor, Best Lawyers, October 19, 2021
• Navistar Settles Marine Corps Fraud Case For $50M, Law360, May 27, 2021
• Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Announces $50 Million Settlement In False Claims Act Case Against Navistar Defense and Navistar International, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, May 27, 2021
• Law360 Names Attys Who Moved Up The Firm Ranks In Q1, Law360, May 07, 2021
• Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Announces Ten Promotions For 2021, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, December 16, 2020

Blog

• Fake Pallets, Real Penalties: How a $549.5 Million Settlement Redefined Customs Fraud Enforcement Under the False Claims Act, Co-Author.
• The Fall of Done Global: When Telehealth Becomes a Pipeline for Controlled Substances, Co-Author.
• South Korea’s 75-Year-Old Tax Whistleblower Program Just Got Stronger and the World Is Watching, Co-Author.
• Fraud in Startup Wonderland, Co-Author.
• Fraud against Autistic Individuals, Their Loved Ones, and Beyond, Co-Author.
• Swifties Sue Ticketmaster: Implications for Consumers and Investors
• Automation: Effective or Efficient? Mass Layoffs and the Future of the Tech Industry
• Lawyers on Layers: The Regulatory Future of Decentralized Finance
• Intangible Possessions, Tangible Fraud: Plagiarism and NFTs
• The New Big Brother: Privacy, Cybersecurity, and the Metaverse
• “The Wild West”: The Need for Cryptocurrency Regulation
• Sarbanes-Oxley: Private or Public?
• Confidentiality Agreements as the Basis for False Claims Act Suits
• Whistleblowing Under Dodd-Frank and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
• Dual-Pronged Protections for Record-Keeping Whistleblowers
• GSA Pricing Fraud Basics: What is it and what should you look for?
• If you’re wondering what’s keeping women out of STEM, don’t discount sexual harassment
• Agent Scully and the Hollywood Wage Gap
• “Master of None” and the Freedom to Be Average
• Womenomics
• Speedy Ortiz FTW
• Beyond Seventy-Eight Percent
• The United States, China, and the STEM Gender Gap