John C. Tishler

Hospitals, health systems, and health care companies, along with their financial advisors and lenders, rely on attorney John Tishler's experience and perspective to understand their complex business needs and help them achieve success.

Whether working out financial arrangements made to organizations now facing financial difficulty or advising the boards of buyers or sellers of health care and other organizational assets, John delivers creative solutions and strategic planning advice that address both immediate challenges and long-term objectives. With more than 30 years of experience and a tenacious commitment to achieving results, John offers clients options and answers that don't come from a playbook.

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An insolvency and restructuring attorney by trade, John deals comfortably in both the transactional and litigation arenas. He focuses on corporate insolvency/board advice, creditor's rights, financial services, defaulted bonds, commercial litigation, and health care mergers and acquisitions.

John's experience handling high-profile, complex cases includes helping clients through their own workouts and bankruptcies, negotiating forbearance arrangements and the sale of multi-facility health care providers, assisting health care companies in buying assets, and acting as an agent for secured and unsecured creditors in Chapter 11 cases throughout the country.

At Epstein Becker Green, John works with the attorneys in the Nashville office and firm leadership to help guide the strategy of that office and attract clients and talent to the firm.

From 2008 to 2014, John served as the Chairman of a large U.S. law firm and later became the leader of that firm’s Healthcare Restructuring Team. Early in his legal career, he served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

An ardent pro bono advocate with deep compassion for others, John has been listed on the Tennessee Bar Association’s Pro Bono Honor Roll eight times. In the autumn of 2022, he was honored by the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) as a 2022 Hall of Fame Honoree for his efforts to help TJC clients and for having served on TJC’s Board of Directors. He also served as the 2014 Campaign Chair for the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands’ annual Campaign for Equal Justice. He currently serves as chairman of the Belmont College of Law Board of Advisors and on the Board of Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary.

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• The Best Lawyers in America: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2006 to 2025); Litigation—Bankruptcy (2006 to 2025); Lawyer of the Year, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2021); and Lawyer of the Year, Litigation—Bankruptcy (2020)
• Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business: Tennessee—Bankruptcy/Restructuring, "Leader in Their Field" (2021 to 2024)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers: Business & Corporate (2013 to 2024)
• Nashville Business Journal: Best of the Bar, Bankruptcy (2018, 2019, 2021 to 2022)
• Tennessee Justice Center: Hall of Fame Honoree (2022)

Education

• University of Tennessee College of Law (J.D., with honors, 1988)
  • Editor in Chief, Tennessee Law Review
• Vanderbilt University (B.A., 1980)

Professional & Community Involvement

• American Bankruptcy Institute
• American Bar Association
• American Health Lawyers Association
• Franklin Road Academy, Past Chair (2016 to 2017); Chairman of the Board of Trustees (2014 to 2016)
• Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc., Board Member (2010 to Present)
• Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Campaign Chair (2014)
• Nashville Bar Association
• Tennessee Justice Center, Board Member (2016 to Present); Raising the Bar, Campaign Chair (2015)
• Tennessee Bar Association
• Turnaround Management Association, Past President, Tennessee Chapter (2003 to 2005)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Advisory Committee on Rules (2010 to 2014)