John R. Tarpley Nashville Office 424 Church Street, Suite 2500 Nashville, Tennessee 37219 Telephone (615) 259-1366 Fax (615) 259-1389 jtarpley@lewisking.com

Martindale-Hubbell® AV Peer Review Rated

Education
University of Tennessee, B.S., 1976
University of Tennessee, J.D., 1980

Bar Admission
1980 Tennessee

Practice Areas
Civil and Commercial Litigation
Product Liability
Construction
Insurance
Transportation

John R. Tarpley, a Lewis King shareholder, has been involved in complex litigation in the areas of tort, transportation, product liability, professional liability, commercial law, construction defect and casualty defense, and a wide range of insurance-related matters in both state and federal courts. His product liability work includes the representation of manufacturers of automobiles, heavy equipment, appliances and power tools, as well as significant experience in asbestos defense.

Mr. Tarpley has also successfully defended a number of trucking companies and their employees, both at trial and in the mediation of claims. Further, he has represented employers, managing underwriters, third-party administrators and insurance companies in litigation concerning a wide variety of ERISA issues. Mr. Tarpley has also been certified as a general civil mediator by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission of the Tennessee Supreme Court. He has also addressed a wide variety of retail issues from both a general civil and a commercial law perspective.

Prior to joining the firm in 1989, Mr. Tarpley was a judicial clerk for the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Division, from 1981 to 1982, and an assistant attorney general for the State of Tennessee from 1982 to 1989. During that time, he was responsible for statewide enforcement of consumer protection and antitrust laws and recovered restitution for thousands of consumers.

In addition, he is a former President of the Tennessee Bar Association and has served on the TBA's Executive Committee for a number of years. As president of the TBA, he implemented the successful "Leadership Law" program and continues to be involved in its programming. He also established "Lawyers Care" and successfully recruited lawyers to do more pro bono work in the state. During the year, TBA membership reached all-time highs.

He has recently served as the Chair of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS). Formerly, he held four officer level roles in the Section and was a member of the TIPS Council. He was the first editor of TortSource and was the chairperson of the committee that created the successful TIPS Leadership Academy. In addition, he has held membership on several standing committees of the American Bar Association and now serves on the ALI-ABA Board and is a member of the ABA Journal Board of Editors. Likewise, he is a member of the ABA House of Delegates representing the Tennessee Bar Association. Previously, he held two officer level positions in the ABA Young Lawyers Division and was the editor of the Division's Barrister magazine. Mr. Tarpley is a member of the Nashville, Tennessee and American Bar Foundations.

He has also served a term on the Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission and currently is the president of the board of directors of the Music City Chapter of the March of Dimes.

Mr. Tarpley is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation and serves as a trustee of the foundation. He is also a member of the Tennessee Bar and American Bar Foundations. In addition, he is a member of the American Law Firm Association's (ALFA) Transportation Practice Group and is a member of the Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA).

He received his B.S. degree in 1976 and his J.D. degree in 1980, both from the University of Tennessee. Mr. Tarpley represents clients in all state and federal courts in Tennessee from the Nashville office.