John practices with the firm’s Commercial Litigation group and concentrates his practice in the areas of business torts, fiduciary liability, financial services litigation, and intellectual property litigation.
Overview
John practices with the firm’s Commercial Litigation group and concentrates his practice in the areas of business torts, fiduciary liability, financial services litigation, and intellectual property litigation.
Practice Areas
Experience
- Second-chaired trade secrets and unfair competition jury trial that was sent to the jury and resolved during deliberations.
- Summary judgment granted to client financial institution on alleged liability for forged signatures.
- Defense verdict and award of attorneys’ fees on counterclaim in one-day bench trial in breach of contract case.
- AAA arbitration in which arbitrator found for lender on attorneys’ fees counterclaim and against claimant in demand for payment of $750,000 “lost” loan proceeds.
- Summary judgment granted in suit on personal guaranty and dismissing counterclaims, affirmed on appeal.
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act case, denying motion to remand and motion for leave to amend to plead damages less than jurisdictional amount as bad faith attempt to manipulate forum.
- Summary judgment granted in slip-and-fall case.
- Summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, in premises liability/toxic exposure case.
- Judgment on the pleadings granted to defendant banks and mortgage servicers in wrongful foreclosure case.
Distinctions
- Martindale-Hubbell®
- AV®- Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated, 2014-2021
- Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers®
- Mid-South Rising Star, Business Litigation, 2015-2020
- BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America®
- Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation, 2021-2025
- Ones to Watch, Financial Services Regulation Law, 2021-2025
- Top 50 Under 40, Mississippi Business Journal, 2021
- Leadership Forum, Mississippi Bar, 2016
- Outstanding Service Award, Jackson Young Lawyers, 2014
Bar Admissions
- Tennessee, 2022
- Mississippi, 2010
- U.S. District Courts
- Michigan: Eastern
- Mississippi: Southern, Northern
- Tennessee: Western, Middle, Eastern
- U.S. Court of Appeals
- 5th Circuit
Education
- Mississippi College, J.D., summa cum laude, 2010
- Articles Editor, Mississippi College Law Review
- Moot Court Board
- Am Jur Awards in 12 legal areas
- Internship, Federal District Judge Daniel P. Jordan, III, Southern District of Mississippi
- Internship, Federal Magistrate Judge James C. Sumner, Southern District of Mississippi
- Mississippi State University, B.S., Psychology, magna cum laude, 2005
Associations
- American Bar Association
- YLD Local Affiliate Designee, 2016
- Mississippi Bar Association
- Professionalism Committee
- Public Information Committee, 2017
- Jackson Young Lawyers
- President, 2016-2017
- Defense Research Institute (DRI)
- Seminar Planning Committee
- Chair, 2021
- Young Lawyers Steering Committee
- Development Education Subcommittee
- Webcast Subcommittee
- Activities Subcommittee
- Seminar Planning Committee
- Capital Area Bar Association
- Board Member, 2015-2017
- Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project
- Advisory Board Member
- Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS)
Papers, Presentations & Publications
- Moderator, “Technology and Ethical Issues in the Practice of Law,” Tennessee Bar Association IP Law Blast CLE, April 2022.
- Author, “E-Discovery: Obtaining Electronically Stored Information,” Mississippi Practice Series, Mississippi Civil Procedure, Vol. 1, 2021.
- Co-Presenter, “Commercial Litigation/Contract Disputes,” CPA Industry Conference, October 2019.
- Presenter, “Effective Utilization of Technology, New Lawyer CLE Program,” September 2017.
- Author, “Fast Pitch: Young Lawyers Hone Business Development Skills at Seminar,” DRI For the Defense, August 2017.
- Presenter, “Practicing Attorneys Panel,” E-Discovery CLE, January 2017.
- Moderator, “Ethics in E-Discovery: Practical Considerations, A Panel Discussion,” Electronic Discovery: Recent Developments & Trends CLE, September 2016.
- Co-Author, “Alabama No Longer An Outlier State: Legislature says ‘No’ to Innovator Liability” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 8 No. 3, December 2015.
- Presenter, “Finding Leverage in the Weeds: A Guide to E-Discovery,” Eaton Corporation E-Discovery CLE, November 2015.
- Presenter, “Electronic Discovery: Recent Developments & Trends,” October 2015.
- Presenter, “The Rules of Evidence: A Practical Toolkit,” National Business Institute, September 2015.
- Presenter, “eDiscovery: A Refresher,” Volunteer Lawyers CLE Seminar, July 2015.
- Panelist, “Ethics in eDiscovery: Practical Perspectives,” E-Discovery CLE Program, October 2014.
- Presenter, "A Primer on E-Discovery," CLE Seminar, October 2014.
- Presenter, “eDiscovery: Start to Finish,” Volunteer Lawyers CLE Seminar, July 2014.
- Author, "Finding Leverage in the Weeds: A Guide to E-Discovery," The Mississippi Lawyer, Vol. LX, No. 1, Fall 2013.
- Author, "Document Retention and Destruction," Lorman Education Services, 2013.
- Author, "Everything You Don't Know About E-Discovery (But Wish You Did)," National Business Institute, May 2013.
- Author, "Find it Free and Fast on the Net: Strategies for Legal Research on the Web," National Business Institute, May 2013.
- Author, "Applying the Rules of Evidence: What Every Attorney Needs to Know," National Business Institute, March 2013.
- Mississippi Section, The Collateral Source Rule: A Compendium of State Law, Defense Research Institute, 2012.
- Author, "Court Holds that RESPA Anit-Kickback Provision Prohibits Only Split-Fee Transactions," DRI Today, May 2012.
- Author, "Lawsuits Challenging the 2010 Healthcare Reform Legislation," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 4 No. 1, Feb. 2011.
- Author, "Consistency in the Courts: Settled Law and Recent Updates on Judicial Estoppel and Election of Remedies," MDLA Quarterly, Winter 2010.
- Author, "Effect of Judicial Estoppel on Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Claim – What Every Defense Lawyer Needs to Know," Southern Law Network, October 2010.