John O'Shea Sullivan - Attorney Information - Burr & Forman LLP

About Shea

Shea practices in the firm’s Litigation section, focusing on general commercial litigation, consumer finance and real estate litigation. Shea’s commercial litigation practice includes representing developers, lenders and other businesses of all sizes in various business disputes. Shea also represents many prominent financial institutions, mortgage companies and real estate related businesses in a wide range of real estate and consumer financial disputes. Shea’s cases include claims for predatory lending, mortgage related fees and services, insurance packing, equity stripping, flipping, mortgage escrow practices, defamation and state law deceptive practices asserted under a variety of theories including the Truth in Lending Act, the Home Ownership Equity Protection Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, among others.

Shea authors the Trial Practice and Procedure survey annually in the Eleventh Circuit Survey of the Mercer Law Review. He was a featured speaker at the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education & Council of Superior Court Judges 2007 Summer Seminar, where he spoke to a large group of Superior Court Judges on the effect of the new Federal Rule Amendments on state court practices in Georgia. Shea is a member of the State Bars of Georgia and North Carolina and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia.

Shea received his A.B.J. in Journalism in 1991 from the University of Georgia. He earned his J.D., cum laude, in 1995 from Mercer University, where he served as managing editor of the Mercer Law Review. At Mercer, he was named to the Brainerd Currie Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi. Shea also authored a case note, 45 Mercer Law Review 533 (1993), and articles at 56 Mercer Law Review 1361 (2005), 57 Mercer Law Review 1177 (2006), 58 Mercer Law Review 1315 (2007), and “Football Helmet Product Liability: A Survey of Cases and Call for Reform”, 3 Tulane Sports Lawyers’ Journal 233 (1996).

Shea has been named multiple times in the Georgia Super Lawyers - Rising Stars Edition in Atlanta magazine. The lawyers chosen as Rising Stars represent approximately 2.5 percent of the best up-and-coming attorneys in the state as voted by their peers based on their personal observations.

Shea Cross-Examined

I am involved in the Sandy Springs community having been on the Board of Directors of the Committee for Sandy Springs since 2000. The Committee for Sandy Springs was a non-profit organization dedicated to achieving cityhood for Sandy Springs, the formerly unincorporated area north of Atlanta. When the Committee achieved its goal of incorporation, Sandy Springs became the state’s seventh largest city overnight. I serve on the Advisory Board of Cornerstone Bank in Sandy Springs. I also serve on the Board of Directors of Georgia’s Center for Trade and Technology Transfer, having been appointed by the Governor in 1999. The Center promotes trade, technology and tourism between Georgia and emerging nations.

I also serve, with my wife Lynn, on the Board of an Atlanta Charity Gala to raise money for Fraxa, the Fragile X Research Foundation. Fragile X Syndrome is the most common inherited cause of autism. I organize a weekly community basketball league for friends and neighbors in Sandy Springs. I also coach tee ball at NYO and am involved with Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Sandy Springs where my children attend school. I have run the Peachtree Road Race more than 20 times, and each of the last 19 years.

What is your claim to fame? In May 1995, I caught a home run ball at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. ESPN captured the catch and included it on their “Plays of the Week” Memorial Day edition.