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 is also experienced with all forms of alternative dispute resolution and before administrative agencies. John advises clients regarding litigation avoidance and assessment and is listed as a Rule 31 General Civil Mediator.
With two decades of experience, John has litigated high-stakes and high-profile matters, both individually and as co-counsel with national firms. He has represented various types of business entities as well as individual officers and directors in a variety of matters, including securities litigation, shareholder actions, class actions, banking 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, real estate litigation, nonprofit corporation act compliance, and civil rights actions.
John is active with the local bar and currently serves on the Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors. He is also a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission. Mr. Farringer 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.
- John W. Wade Scholar
- Member, Moot Court Board
- Member, Order of the Coif
- Symposium Editor, Vanderbilt Law Review
- Edmund M. Morgan Prize for most outstanding note on the Vanderbilt Law Review
- Washington and Lee University, B.A., magna cum laude
- Phi Beta Kappa
BAR ADMISSIONS
- United States Supreme Court
- U.S Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- Tennessee
- Middle District of Tennessee
- Eastern District of Tennessee
- Western District of Tennessee
- Chambers USA: Litigation (2022 – present)
- Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Banking and Finance; Litigation – Securities; Litigation – Land Use and Zoning (2016 – present)
- Best Lawyers in America “Lawyer of the Year” (Litigation – Banking and Finance)
- Best Lawyers in America “Lawyer of the Year,” Litigation – Land Use and Zoning and Litigation – Securities (2023)
- Nashville Bar Foundation’s Fellows Program, Class of 2020
- Attorney for Justice Tennessee Supreme Court Pro Bono Service Award (2015 – 2016, 2018 – 2019)
- Benchmark Litigation “Future Star” (2013 – 2016, 2018 – present)
- Benchmark Litigation Under 40 Hot List (2016 – 2017)
- Super Lawyers, Business Litigation (2011 – present)
- Super Lawyers “Mid-South Rising Star” (2011 – 2012)
- Nashville Business Journal “Best of The Bar” (2016, 2023)
- TBA President’s Award for work as Chair of Medical – legal Partnership Working Group (2015)
- ACLU Bill of Rights Award (2015)
- Tennessee Bar Association’s Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Award (2012)
- AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
- “The Competency Conundrum: Problems Courts Have Faced in Applying Different Standards for Competency to be Executed” 54 Vand. L. Rev. 2441 (2001)
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Member , Nashville, Tennessee and American Bar Associations
- Member, Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors
- Past Chair and Member, Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission
- Past Chair, Tennessee Bar Association Access to Justice Committee
- Member, Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law Class of 2011
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Pro bono work, including prevailing in a case before the Tennessee Supreme Court
CIVIC ACTIVITIES
- Board Member, Economic Club of Nashville
- Past President and Board Member, The Family Center
- Member, Richland-West End Neighborhood Association Board of Directors
- Parishioner, Cathedral of the Incarnation
Practice Areas
