John A. Bass
John A. Bass
Biography
John A. Bass is a Member of the Healthcare and Long-Term Care Group at Burns White, focusing his practice on medical malpractice and nursing home defense. An experienced trial attorney, Mr. Bass has successfully defended hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare providers in a wide range of matters in both common pleas and appellate courts of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Bass is actively involved in the legal community in many ways. He is an appointed member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, as well as a former board member of the Neighborhood Legal Services Association, a nonprofit, public interest law firm serving individuals and families in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, and Lawrence Counties. In addition, Mr. Bass is a former member of the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Civil Division Council.
Outside of the legal community, Mr. Bass serves on the Board of Directors of Hope Network, an organization that provides education and athletic activities for handicapped youth and adults. He also is on the board of the Lee W. Bass, M.D., Community Pediatric Lecture Series Endowment, which supports programs on behalf of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Mr. Bass graduated from Duquesne University School of Law in 1988 and received a B.A. in History from Emory University in 1984.
Credentials
Areas of Law
- Medical Malpractice Defense
- Long-Term Care Litigation
- Professional Licensing
Education
- Duquesne University (J.D., 1988)
- Emory University (B.A., 1984)
Bar and Court Admissions
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- State of Ohio
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Memberships
- Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County
- Allegheny County Bar Association
- Long-Term Care Risk Legal Forum
- Ohio Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- The Defense Research Institute
Accolades & Involvement
Honors/Awards
- 2019 Pennsylvania Best Lawyers®, for Medical Malpractice Law—Defendants
- Recognized annually on the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® lists since 2009
- Selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America® since 2016 for Medical Malpractice Law Defense
- Selected by his peers for inclusion in Pennsylvania’s Best Lawyers®
- Selected for the Allegheny County Bar Foundation Fellows Program
Representative Matters
- Secured a defense award on behalf of a skilled nursing facility and it’s consulting company brought by a nationally-renowned plaintiff’s firm that specializes in nursing home litigation after successfully securing transfer of both Survival and Wrongful Death claims to arbitration pursuant to an Arbitration Agreement
- Secured a defense verdict in a civil case brought by a nationally known plaintiff’s firm for punitive damages on behalf of a skilled nursing facility alleging under-staffing of the facility amounting to wanton and willful care causing pain, suffering and eventual death of one of its residents
- Successfully had a PA County and its county-owned nursing facility dismissed from a case stemming from an alleged sexual assault of a facility resident by one of the staff
