He received his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College and his law degree from Harvard Law School. John is a past chair of the Real Estate Section of the Maine State Bar Association and of its Title Standards Committee. He is a past chair of the Maine Board of Licensure for Professional Land Surveyors. John is a frequent seminar speaker on real estate issues, especially topics concerning roads and easements. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Maine State Bar Association, the Bath-Brunswick Bar Association, and the Maine Society of Land Surveyors (honorary).