JOHN BECKLEY
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL
AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
WHY: As head of litigation, oversees all corporate litigation for the Auto Club, with administrative offices in Costa Mesa, which includes a mix of legal matters such as class actions, representative actions, insurance, mass actions, wildfire and catastrophe subrogation and employment law.
IN THE NEWS: Honored with Specialty Counsel Award at Business Journal’s 2024 General Counsel Awards; Beckley’s past work has resulted in at least 16 published cases on various legal topics.
NOTABLE: Joined Auto Club by answering an ad in 1997, when there was no existing corporate in-house litigation team and ended up part of its first group of in-house litigators; firm created deputy GC role for him in 2010; became head of litigation in 2022. Outside the office, devotes significant time to pro bono and nonprofit service.
QUOTABLE: Beckley said he has learned several lessons in his 30-year-plus career — “It’s like in athletics, you’ve got to change up your game plan every once in a while.”
