John Farringer is a trial lawyer focusing on complex business and commercial litigation. He practices in state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate level and before administrative agencies. John is also experienced with all forms of alternative dispute resolution, regularly advises clients regarding litigation avoidance and assessment, and is listed as a Rule 31 General Civil Mediator.
With over two decades of experience, John has litigated many high-stakes and high-profile matters, both individually and as co-counsel with national firms. He has represented every type of business entity as well as individual officers and directors in a variety of matters, including securities litigation, shareholder actions, class actions, banking litigation, real estate litigation, tort and business tort actions, covenants not to compete/trade secrets, response to governmental subpoenas and investigations, contract disputes, boundary and land use disputes, nonprofit corporation act compliance, and civil rights actions.
John is active with the local bar and is a past member of and current counsel to the Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors. He is a past Chair of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission. John began his legal career by clerking for the Honorable Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr., Senior United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee.
- Represented independent board members of public company in defense of shareholder litigation arising from merger transaction
- Represented public company in successfully opposing injunctive relief arising out of disputes under an operating agreement
- Represented selling shareholders of a logistics company in defense of a multi-million dollar claim arising out of alleged breaches of representations and warranties in the underlying stock purchase agreement
- Represented public company seeking to invoke a material adverse condition clause to terminate a merger agreement with another public company
- Represented majority owner of private company producing and distributing wine in dispute amongst members arising out of sale of the company
- Represented bank in defending against claims of business entity related to loan agreements
- Represented bank and nursing home in commercial construction disputes
- Represented a law firm in defense of a civil rights claim brought by individual against whom a judgment was obtained in a prior lawsuit
- Represented a law firm in defense of claims for fraud based on litigation conduct in a prior lawsuit
- Represented technology company in dispute with local municipality regarding rights of way and fees
- Represented aeronautics company in dispute brought by losing bidder in a request for proposal process
- Represented a university in defending the decisions of the city council and administrative boards regarding a lease arrangement between the city and the university
- Represented a private elementary school in overturning the decisions of administrative boards to revoke various land use permits previously issued to the school
- Represented organization defending its property rights in boundary dispute
- Represented individual in obtaining 1940 Chinese Bonds in the possession of a company who had claimed it would sell them
- Represented nursing home company in contractual disputes with management company and pharmaceutical provider
- Represented NHL hockey team in dispute over a naming rights agreement with a public company
- Represented bail bonding company in enforcing contractual rights and in defending against tort claims
- Represented individuals both in seeking and opposing conservatorships
- Represented through a jury trial an immigrant shackled while in labor and in the custody of the city government
- Represented the Tennessee plaintiffs in the case consolidated with other cases that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell opinion
EDUCATION
- Vanderbilt University, J.D.
- Edmund M. Morgan Prize for most outstanding note on the Vanderbilt Law Review
- John W. Wade Scholar
- Member, Moot Court Board
- Member, Order of the Coif
- Symposium Editor, Vanderbilt Law Review
- Washington and Lee University, B.A., magna cum laude
- Phi Beta Kappa
BAR ADMISSIONS
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Tennessee
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee
- ACLU Bill of Rights Award (2015)
- Benchmark Litigation “Future Star” (2013 – 2016, 2018 – present)
- Benchmark Litigation “Under 40 Hot List” (2016 – 2017)
- Best Lawyers in America® “Lawyer of the Year,” Nashville, Litigation – Banking and Finance (2021, 2024)
- Best Lawyers in America® “Lawyer of the Year,” Nashville, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning and Litigation – Securities (2023)
- Best Lawyers in America®, Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Banking and Finance; Litigation – Securities; Litigation – Land Use and Zoning (2016 – present)
- Chambers USA: Litigation (2022 – present)
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated
- Nashville Bar Foundation’s Fellows Program, Class of 2020
- Nashville Business Journal “Best of The Bar” (2016, 2023)
- Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation, General Litigation (2013 – present)
- Super Lawyers “Rising Star” (2011 – 2012)
- Tennessee Bar Association’s Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Award (2012)
- Tennessee Bar Association’s President’s Award for work as Chair of Medical-Legal Partnership Working Group (2015)
- Tennessee Supreme Court Attorneys for Justice Pro Bono Honor Roll (2015 – 2016, 2018 – 2019)
- John Farringer, Nothing Lasts Forever: Expiration and Extension of Judgments in Tennessee, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison Blog (March 31, 2022)
- “The Competency Conundrum: Problems Courts Have Faced in Applying Different Standards for Competency to be Executed” 54 Vand. L. Rev. 2441 (2001)
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Member, Nashville, Tennessee and American Bar Associations
- Member, Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law, Class of 2011
- Past Chair, Tennessee Bar Association Access to Justice Committee
- Past Chair and Member, Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission
- Past Member and current Assistant Counsel, Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors
- Pro bono work, including prevailing in a case before the Tennessee Supreme Court
CIVIC ACTIVITIES
- Board Member, Economic Club of Nashville
- Member, Richland-West End Neighborhood Association Board of Directors
- Parishioner, Cathedral of the Incarnation
- Past President and Board Member, The Family Center