John E. Winters

John E. Winters, an effective trial lawyer with 20 years' experience, focuses his practice in the areas of Labor and Employment and Commercial Litigation. His vast knowledge and experience coupled with a common sense approach to resolving disputes is vital to helping his clients save not only money, but also valuable time away from their businesses. He takes the time to understand his clients' needs and legal goals and looks for cost-effective solutions that will get them the results they want.

For those cases that require court action, Mr. Winters has extensive trial experience. He has served as lead counsel in approximately 50 jury trials throughout Tennessee. He has also served as lead counsel in countless non-jury and administrative hearings.

The Best Lawyers in America, a highly regarded peer-review publication, selected Mr. Winters for inclusion to its list in 2010 to 2013 for Labor and Employment and Insurance Law.

In his Labor and Employment practice, besides providing litigation assistance, Mr. Winters gives general employment law advice, provides training, and represents companies in a wide array of matters before state and federal administrative agencies. His practice includes the following issues:
· Discrimination
· Harassment
· Non-Competition agreements
· Contract disputes
· Retaliation
· Trade Secrets

In his Commercial Litigation practice, he represents companies as well as individuals in federal and state courts and arbitration proceedings.

Recent Published Articles

"Gossett: The Tennessee Supreme Court's Recent Application of Rule 56 Will Dramatically Impact Tennessee Employees" Kramer Rayson LLP e-Newsletter - Labor and Employment Journal, December 2010

"What are the Rules After Hoffman?" The Tennessee Bar Journal, July 2008

Recent Presentations

"Negotiating the Minefield of Problematic Employees"
Kramer Rayson LLP Ninth Annual Employment Law Conference, Knoxville 2012

"Navigating the Retaliation Minefield"
Kramer Rayson LLP Eighth Annual Employment Law Conference, Knoxville 2011

"Anatomy of an Age Discrimination Complaint"
Kramer Rayson LLP Sixth Annual Employment Law Conference, Knoxville 2009

Representative Matters

Mr. Winters obtained dismissal of his client, a large financial institution, in a case in which its broker was alleged to have been negligent regarding a life insurance policy valued at $1 million.

He was lead trial counsel in a jury trial for an aviation company that purchased an airplane relying on misrepresentations made by the agent during the negotiations. He was successful at obtaining a verdict against the seller of the airplane.

He negotiated resolution of a non-compete agreement for a former employer that allowed the employee to remain employed in the same field.

Mr. Winters was on the firm's defense team that successfully defended a putative class action with 17 named plaintiffs in a Title VII claim. The claims of all 17 plaintiffs were either dismissed on summary judgment or voluntarily dismissed with prejudice in exchange for a waiver of court costs after summary judgment was filed.

He was also on the firm's defense team that defended a putative class action involving failure to hire issues with a proposed class of over 300 members. In this case, the plaintiff's motion to certify the class was denied, and two of the individual claims were dismissed on summary judgment. On the one claim that survived summary judgment, he served as the lead trial counsel. The jury returned a verdict in favor of his client.

He represented a company that obtained a $920,000 jury verdict against a competitor for engaging in interference with contractual relations, interference with business relations, unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty, and conspiracy. This verdict was later affirmed by the Tennessee Court of Appeals.