John S. Hicks, shareholder in the Firm’s Nashville office, serves as the Firm’s General Counsel and, as chair of the Firm’s Conflicts and Ethics Committee, serves as the primary ethics counsel for the Firm.
Mr. Hicks previously served on the Firm’s Board of Directors and is the former chair of the Health Law and Medical Professional Litigation Group. His trial practice is varied and includes securities litigation, health law litigation, business torts, shareholder and corporate governance disputes, professional liability defense, defense of class action cases including various consumer fraud and insurance claims, insurance coverage disputes and commercial and banking litigation.
Mr. Hicks has defended securities and shareholder derivative claims involving public companies and regularly represents one of the nation’s largest health insurance groups in a variety of disputes, both in court and in arbitration.
He has represented a major health benefits provider in extensive arbitrations and related litigation regarding the enforceability of managed care agreements for a statewide health benefits network.
He also has represented a trade association of managed care organizations in class action litigation relating to the operation of Tennessee’s Medicaid managed care program as well as several of the individual managed care organizations in litigation and arbitration with providers and in regulatory matters.
In addition, Mr. Hicks has represented health care providers in disputes with payors as well as both providers and payors in a variety of commercial disputes. Also, he has defended a series of consumer fraud cases in the life insurance industry.
His experience includes the defense of a collection agency in a class action case alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. He has also represented law firms in professional liability and breach of fiduciary duty claims as well as individual lawyers in disciplinary proceedings. He has past extensive experience in bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and business reorganizations.
EDUCATION:
- University of Memphis, J.D., 1983
- University of Mississippi, B.A., 1980
ADMISSIONS:
- Tennessee, 1983
- United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 1984
- United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1985
- United States District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 2004
- United States Supreme Court, 2008
Representative Matters:
- Represented a licensee defendant in a putative class action by former collegiate athletes claiming a right to individually licenses their names, images and likenesses (NIL) for use in sports broadcasts and seeking damages for prior uses of same. The U. S. District Court for the Middle District of TN granted a Rule 12 Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit affirmed dismissal after oral argument.
- Represented an insurance services company in long running litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against multiple former independent agents. After years of heated litigation, summary judgment was won with the decision affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
Professional Honors & Activities:
- Member – American Health Lawyers Association
- Member – Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association
- Member – American Bankruptcy Institute
- Fellow – Nashville Bar Foundation
Cost
Rate : $$$