Overview

For over 40 years, John Whitfield has been one of the premier trial attorneys in Kentucky and Tennessee. He has represented numerous injured parties in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Tennessee, and throughout the southeastern United States. He has concentrated primarily on complex civil litigation cases, and over his career has brought to settlement or judgment over 55 cases in excess of a million dollars each.

Mr. Whitfield is certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has represented individuals in all walks of life against negligent workplace practices, reckless physicians, predatory businesses, and inattentive truck and automobile drivers among many others. He has an additional concentration in the Nashville, Tennessee area of representing motorcyclists who have been injured through no fault of their own.

Mr. Whitfield graduated with distinction from the University of Kentucky with his undergraduate degree before attending law school at the university. Throughout his career, he has represented scores of individuals who have been the victims of medical negligence, defective drugs, and medical devices, obtaining verdicts and settlements in both state and federal courts. He has handled cases for landowners victim to fraudulent mine royalty practices, for homeowners whose homes and business contained defective concrete or were damaged by coal mining subsidence, and for Kentucky residents who were overcharged for premium insurance taxes.

Mr. Whitfield is a frequent lecturer of litigation subjects with the Kentucky Justice Association and American Association for Justice and has been recognized as a Kentucky Super Lawyer multiple times. He is AV rated by the Martindale-Hubbell rating service.

Mr. Whitfield is an avid motorcyclist and a member of national motorcycle clubs. He plays guitar, enjoys traveling, and is the owner of a patent for the aging of whiskey.

Notable Cases & Leadership Roles

• 2022: $5.7+ million jury verdict for a Deputy Sheriff negligently shot by another police officer after a pursuit with a suspect
• 2019: Lead Counsel for a motorcyclist in Tennessee who suffered catastrophic injuries against a major transport company – Confidential settlement
• 2019: Lead Counsel for the Estate of a woman against a physician in Tennessee who repeatedly failed to advise of cancerous findings she received in two different pathology reports, which was a substantial factor in her death – Confidential settlement
• 2017: Lead Counsel for a motorcyclist in Kentucky who suffered catastrophic injuries against a major transport company – Confidential settlement
• 2016: Lead Counsel for a motorcyclist in Kentucky who suffered catastrophic injuries against a major transport company – Confidential settlement
• 2016: Lead Counsel for a motorcyclist in Iowa who suffered catastrophic injuries against a major transport company – Confidential settlement
• 2016: Lead Counsel for a group of individuals in a products liability case against a cosmetic manufacturer – Confidential settlement
• 2015: Lead Counsel in Don McAfee, et., al. v Carol Lopatin, U.S. District Ct., Middle District of Missouri, Case No. 2:14-cv-4209, a motorcycle injury case resulting in a $73,336.82 jury verdict
• 2015: Lead Counsel in Appalachian Land Company v EQT Supreme Court of Kentucky, 2013-SC-000598-CL changing the law in Kentucky regarding deduction of coal severance taxes in mineral leases in the Commonwealth of Kentucky
• 2015: Lead Counsel in Lawrence Holmes and Jason D. Myers v. Forrest “Ben” Waide and Liberty Rehabilitation PSC, No. 13-CI-1193 (Hopkins (KY) Circuit Court), resulting in a $681,000 jury verdict
• 2014: Co-Lead Counsel in Sutton, et al. v. The Federal Materials Company, Inc., et al, No. 07-CI-00007 (Ky. Cir. Ct), resulting in a $10.1 million class settlement for owners of residential and commercial properties constructed with defective concrete
• 2014: Young, et al. v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co, et al., No. 11-5015 (E.D. Ky.), a series of class actions against multiple insurance companies arising from unlawful collection of local taxes on premium payments; class certified and affirmed on appeal, 693 F.3d 532 (6th Cir., 2012); settlements with all defendants for 100% refund of taxes collected
• 2013: Co-Lead Counsel on a three-week jury trial in Madisonville, Kentucky resulting in a $1.39 million verdict in favor of a church and a business against two coal companies for causing subsidence to their properties
• 2012: Class Counsel in Nichols v. Progressive Direct Insurance Co., et al., No. 2:06cv146 (E.D. Ky.), a class action arising from unlawful taxation of insurance premiums; statewide settlement with Safe Auto Insurance Company and creation of $2 million Settlement Fund; statewide settlement with Hartford Insurance Company and tax refunds of $1.75 million
• Co-Lead Counsel for a client injured by the acts of a railroad company, resulting in a confidential settlement
• Lead Counsel in a case involving negligent nursing supervision of intensive care monitoring, resulting in a confidential six figure settlement
• Lead Counsel in a products case where the design flaw of a shuttle car resulted in the death of a miner, resulting in a $625,000 settlement
• Lead Counsel in a products liability case against a cosmetic manufacturer
• Co-Lead Counsel for Staton v. IMI South, et al. (Ky. Cir. Ct.), resulting in a class settlement for approximately $30 million for repair and purchase of houses built with defective concrete
• Counsel for recipients of a defective heart valve, leading to a worldwide settlement against the manufacturer in the amount of $165 million
• Obtained million-dollar judgments for various landowners throughout Kentucky who were victims of fraudulent mine royalty practices
• Co-Counsel for a class of Kentucky residents overcharged for premium insurance taxes, resulting in settlements against insurance companies for several million dollars
• Co-Lead Counsel in the Pyro Mine Disaster (1989) that claimed the lives of 10 miners at the Williams Station Mine in Union County Kentucky – Confidential Settlements