John A. Taylor, Founder / President / Research Professional

As the Founder and President of Taylor Research Group (TRG), John is the lead historian and visionary behind our approach to developing targeted, cost-effective research strategies. Over the last two decades, he has worked closely with Fortune 500 clients and major law firms on multi-million dollar cases. John draws on his comprehensive knowledge of federal, state, and local records collections to answer our client's historical and environmental questions. He previously served as the Deputy Director of Litigation Research and Senior Historian at a history, archives, and museum company.

Education

  • Holy Names University, BA in History with honors

  • St. Mary's College, California Secondary Teaching Credential in Social Studies

  • San Francisco State University, MA in Modern European History with a minor in Latin American History

Professional Research Experience:

  • Research into polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination at sites and in waterways around the country; investigations into the industrial equipment used, the presence of PCBs in various industrial processes and products, and the illegal disposal or dumping of PCB-containing materials (Client: Law Firms)

  • Historical research to document the regulation, use and disposal of PFAS such as Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) fire suppressant utilized at various military facilities around the country (Client: Law Firms)

  • Due diligence investigation research project to identify potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and track down corporate successors adjacent to a historic waterway in the northeast (Client: Fortune 500 Company)

  • Investigation into the history of municipal publicly owned treatment works (POTW), wastewater treatment plants, private sewers, combined sewer outfalls (CSO), etc., in order to understand the history of alterations, additions, modifications, maintenance, development and regulatory actions over time through review of federal, state and local records (Client: Law Firms and Fortune 500 Company)

  • Investigating business-government contractual relationships at a former ordnance assembly and test site in California (Client: Law Firm)

  • Collecting documentation, including contracts and indemnification clauses, on a former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) research production facility through an extensive review of Department of Energy, Energy Research and Development Administration, AEC and Nuclear Regulatory Commission materials, as well as public and private documents (Client:Law Firm)

  • Investigation into perchlorate contamination in a western community’s groundwater to identify additional PRPs to share in the cost of the clean-up (Client: Law Firm)

  • Toxic Tort matter involving former uranium and vanadium mines, mills and tailing piles in the Colorado Mineral belt (Client: Law Firm)

  • Documenting a company’s, and its predecessor’s, relationship with hundreds of mines in the southwest (Client: Fortune 500 Company)

  • Research to identify the presence of asbestos-containing products or insulation aboard a variety of U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, Maritime Commission, and other vessels (Client: Various Law Firms & Former Military personnel)

Accolades

"Taylor Research Group has provided me and my firm with top-notch historical research on a variety of environmental projects. [They] have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to plumb the depths of public and private records repositories to piece together arcane and complex histories. They consistently are able to distill reams of information in concise and easy-to-use reports, making the information both useful and accessible. I value my professional relationship with Taylor Research Group and am grateful for their excellent work on behalf of me and my clients.” - Law Firm

"Thanks for being so professional, prompt and organized." - Law Firm

"Thank you for the great work and professionalism." - Law Firm

"I am confident that without your having found and provided the transcript, we never would have known of the extent of the effort Oklahoma went to in order to use Texas demand for water to justify its reservoir projects. Thank you very much." – Law Firm

"The deck logs that you found for me were very useful in substantiating my claim for the Veterans, without which I don't know where I would have gotten needed information. You and your staff did a great job and I thank you all very much." – Private Client

Everything you have provided us this morning is invaluable….The information you’re finding is a game changer for us.” – Law Firm

"Taylor Research Group has always provided professional customer service and a high quality end result. Additionally, each time they are tasked with a search, we’re provided with options that best fit our budget.” - Law Firm

"The Sierra Club hired TRG in 2014 to research and compile ten years’ worth of data on fossil fuels-related disasters across the United States. We used the data to populate an interactive map showing the breadth of disasters and their impact on communities. TRG provided high quality data and were a great pleasure to work with throughout the process.” - Environmental Organization

“Our surveying firm has used Taylor Research Group to research the National Archives for railroad maps for the last 4 years. The TRG team has been great to work with and saved us a lot of time.” - Law Firm

Taylor Research Group has provided our firm with outstanding research results over the past decade. They often provide research options that we would not have thought of. Their expertise is priceless. We look forward to working with them for another decade — or more.” — Law Firm

“It was a sincere pleasure to work with your team. Those I worked with were extremely knowledgeable and super patient with someone who was trying to get more experience performing historical research. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to observe and learn.” - Fortune 500 Company

Everything you have provided us this morning is invaluable….The information you’re finding is a game changer for us.” – Law Firm

Kelley & Ferraro, LLP has been working with TRG for ten years, during which time we have been provided prompt and detailed research to assist our clients, fair pricing, and great customer service. Our office looks forward to a continued working relationship with TRG.” - Law Firm

"I highly recommend Taylor Research Group to any military vet needing record searches for proof of incident or documentation regarding disability claims. The communication between us was compassionate, and the records were produced in a timely fashion. It can be quite costly to research some records, but Taylor Research Group recognized my military sacrifices and produced what I needed for much less than I expected, and I thank them sincerely." - Veteran