John Tishler is a partner at Waller Lansden where he has served as the firm’s Chair since 2007 and on its Board of Directors since 2004. In addition, he chairs the firm’s Diversity Committee which focuses on the recruitment and retention of minority and women attorneys.
Mr. Tishler’s legal practice focuses on corporate insolvency, creditor’s rights, financial services and commercial litigation. He is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for his work in bankruptcy and creditor-debtor law, and he also has been recognized in the Nashville Business Journal’s "Best of the Bar." Mr. Tishler principally represents secured creditors, indenture trustees and asset buyers, and he acts as lead counsel in out-of-court workouts, bankruptcy and other insolvency proceedings.
Mr. Tishler has most recently been active in representing creditors and buyers of distressed assets in the healthcare industry. In July 2010, he concluded, as lead counsel, the representation to the chief secured lender to Lexington Precision Corporation, a publicly traded company that manufactures medical devices and auto parts and had filed bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. In August 2010, he assisted a client in the successful completion of the $150 million acquisition of a multi-location, tax-exempt acute care hospital entity. He served as lead counsel to the largest holders of secured debt of Intrepid USA, which was one of the country’s largest home health companies when it filed for bankruptcy protection in the District of Minnesota; Mr. Tishler propounded the plan ultimately confirmed in the case. In other notable bankruptcy cases, he represented as lead counsel the largest creditors in the Service Merchandise and K-Mart bankruptcies. Additionally, he represented The Garden Companies in their Chapter 11 cases in the Eastern District of Tennessee, the senior secured lender in Health Essentials Solutions’ bankruptcy case in Kentucky, and has successfully completed receivership sales in federal courts in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee for indenture trustee clients.
Education
J.D., with honors, University of Tennessee, 1988
Editor-in-Chief, Tennessee Law Review, 1987-1989
B.A., cum laude, Vanderbilt University, 1980
Clerkships and Previous Affiliations
Law Clerk, Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons, United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee, 1988-1989
Associate Sports Information Director, University of Mississippi, 1980-1982
