Practice Areas
Background
John T. Lay has over 20 years of experience managing complex,
high-stakes litigation for clients, and has tried more than
100 cases to verdict.
As a member of GWB's Business
and Commercial Practice Group, he focuses on business litigation, professional malpractice, insurance bad faith and coverage, financial
services litigation, and product liability. Some of his most
notable cases have included:
- Multi-million dollar class action suits
- Death and catastrophic injury product claims including
pharmaceutical
products
- Allegations involving professional negligence of doctors
and lawyers
- High-profile business disputes between
corporate interests
- Representation of lenders in multi-party financial fraud claims
- Insurance institutional bad faith litigation
John T. has extensive experience managing
product liability litigation throughout the country. He is National Coordinating Counsel for a boat manufacturer. He has litigated business
cases throughout the Southeast, and has also
represented internet companies in business tort claims and
in the enforcement of browse-wrap agreements.
John T. has been recognized extensively by peers in the legal profession. He is AV Rated in Martindale Hubbell, and listed in Best Lawyers in America in three categories: Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Product
Liability Litigation. He is also listed in South
Carolina Super Lawyers. Additionally, John T. is a fellow and member of the Order of
Justitia of the Litigation Counsel
of America. In 2009, he received the Exceptional Performance Citation from the Defense Research
Institute (DRI). The next year, he received the organization's annual Fred
H. Sievert Award, nationally recognizing an outstanding defense
bar leader. In 2010, John T. was also awarded the "Leadership in the Law"
Award by South Carolina Lawyers Weekly,
and has been recognized by Columbia Business Monthly's
"Legal Elite" issue.
As an experienced attorney, John T. lends his knowledge to a variety
of professional organizations. Currently, he is on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Defense Counsel and was the chair of IADC's
Business Litigation Committee. John T. is also a past president of South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association, and a member of the highly-selective Association of Defense Trial Attorneys. Selected by the South Carolina
Supreme Court, John T. has served as an attorney
to assist disciplinary counsel for the South Carolina
Commission on Lawyer Conduct. He
is also on the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Chapter of the American
Board of Trial Advocates and was elected
to John Belton
O'Neill Inn of Court.
John T. also has an interest
in cultivating legal talent and has developed
a broad background in teaching
trial techniques. He has taught
trial advocacy at the University of South Carolina
School of Law and led the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Trial Academy for three years. In 2009, John T. was a faculty
member for International Association of Defense Counsel's Trial Academy
at Stanford University.
As a Columbia, South Carolina resident, John T. is active in the community serving on the boards of several Midlands organizations, including
Senior Resources, Inc. and Meals
on Wheels. Currently, he is also the elementary school wrestling coach and a director of the Skyhawk Board at Hammond School.
Bar Admissions
- South Carolina, 1991
- United States District Court of South Carolina
- United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
- United States Supreme Court
Education
-
J.D., University of South Carolina School of Law, 1991
-
B.A., Davidson College, 1987
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Current News
Support Staff
Recent Articles, Publications & Presentations
- Vetting and Hiring Your Expert Witness - Alabama Defense Trial Attorney, Destin, Florida - June 2008
- Vetting and Hiring Your Expert Witness- South Carolina Defense Attorney,
Asheville, North Carolina - July 2008
- 30(b)(6) Deposition for the Advanced
Litigator - South Carolina Defense
Trial Attorney Association, Columbia, South Carolina - May 2009
- Cross of the Expert - Trial Academy at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
- July 2009
- Preparing Your Witness for Trial -Trial Academy at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California - July 2009
- Vetting and Hiring
Your Expert Witness - Louisiana
Defense Trial Attorneys, New Orleans, Louisiana
- August 2009
- Effective Low Cost Technology at Trial- ABA Litigation Committee, Beaver Creek, Colorado - January 2010
- Attacking the Adverse
Expert at Trial - International Association of Defense
Counsel - March
2010 (National Webinar)
- Damn Proud to Be a Defense
Lawyer - IADC Regional Meeting,
Charleston, South Carolina
- April 2010
- Taking the 30(b)(6) Deposition - South Carolina
Defense Trial Attorney
Association, Columbia, South Carolina - May 2010
- Comparative Negligence - The South Carolina Experience - North Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys,
Hilton Head, South
Carolina - June 2010
- Preparation and Cross of Insurance
Witness - Joint Meeting of South Carolina
Defense Trial Attorneys,
Asheville, North Carolina - July 2010
- Masters in Trial Demonstration - American Board of Trial Advocates, Columbia, South Carolina - February 2011
- Attacking the Plaintiff's Expert (National Webinar) - Association of Defense Trial Attorneys - October 2011
- "I Hardly
Knew Her", Avoiding Legal Malpractice when Associating Local Counsel, Palm Springs, California - February 2012
- IP Litigation Basics, Palm Springs,
California - February 2012
- Trial Superstars, Closing Argument, Charleston, South Carolina - April 2012
- Cross Examination of Experts in International Forums, Moderator, IADC, Asheville, NC - July 2012
Professional Associations & Memberships
- South Carolina Bar
- Richland County Bar
- Commercial Litigation and Product Liability Committees, Defense Research Institute
- Chair of the Business Litigation Committee, Member of Product Liability & Trial Tactics Committees, International Association of Defense Counsel
- Past President, South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association
- American Bar Association
- Board of Directors, American Board of Trial Advocates
- John B. O'Neill Inn of Court
- Attorney to Assist Disciplinary Counsel for the Commission on Lawyer Conduct
- Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
- Association of Defense Trial Attorneys
- Council on Litigation Management
Honors & Awards
- Best Lawyers in America, 2008-2012 (Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Product Liability)
- South Carolina Super Lawyers, 2008-2012
- Greater Columbia Business Monthly's Legal Elite, 2010 & 2011
- 2010 Leadership in Law Award - South Carolina Lawyers Weekly
- 2010 Fred H. Sievert Award - Defense Research Institute (National Award)
- 2009 Exceptional Performance Citation - Defense Research Institute
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