For many years, John has focused on the multidisciplinary needs of family-held enterprises. Their unique legal demands require a more comprehensive approach to wealth planning. Starting in the late 1980s, he was instrumental in founding the Attorneys for Family-Held Enterprises (AFHE), serving for more than a decade as its president. The studies and discussions that have been advanced at the association's meetings have helped John cultivate a national client base of family businesses that rely on him to manage a range of generational transition problems.

He also works with owners developing family mission statements and constitutions, utilizing the latter to develop a comprehensive overall forum which assists in the oversight of the constituencies of a family business.