John L. Tate

A senior member of the firm's Torts & Insurance Practice Group, John's national and regional litigation practice focuses on defending complex product liability lawsuits and managing serial litigation. His extensive trial experience includes medical devices, pharmaceuticals, intellectual property, and a variety of personal injury matters. John has tried product liability cases to jury verdicts in eight states.

John also maintains an active appellate practice representing appellees, appellants, and amici curiae in state and federal courts.

One of John's long-standing interests is the application of Daubert criteria to exclude substandard opinion testimony. Decisions on this topic include Morehouse v. Louisville Ladder, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21766 (South Carolina); Reynolds v. Freightliner, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97244 (Kentucky); Hayes v. MTD Products, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66109 (Kentucky); Campos v. MTD Products, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12951 (Tennessee); Walker v. Louisville Ladder, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9917 (Tennessee); Scarvelli v. Leatt Corporation, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98366 (Ohio); Lyons v. Leatt Corp., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148783 (Ohio); and Wilden v. Laury Transp., LLC, 901 F.3d 644 (6th Cir. 2018).

More Than Stites & Harbison

John's first career was teaching high school and college students in history, English literature, and rhetoric. He later spent seven years in an environmental regulatory agency before going into private practice. A long-time supporter of the arts, John served for 12 years on the board of directors of Actors Theatre of Louisville. He was previously a member of the board of directors of the American Lung Association of Kentucky and served as board president in 1994-96. John also served as trustee of St. Francis School in Goshen and on the board of the Louisville Audubon Society. John served multiple terms as a director of the Louisville Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Louisville Bar Association, culminating in 2016 with service as the foundation's president.