John Winship Read

Practice Areas

• Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights
  • Commercial Collections, Receivership, and Foreclosure
  • Creditors' Committees and Trustees
  • Secured Creditor and Lender Representation
  • Unsecured Creditors, Suppliers, and Vendors
• Financial Institutions
  • Banks
  • Savings Associations
• Litigation
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Appellate Practice
  • Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Litigation
  • Business and Commercial
  • Class Actions
  • Consumer Lending and Lender Liability
  • Employment Litigation
  • Energy and Utilities Litigation
  • Financial Institutions Litigation
  • Probate, Trust, and Fiduciary Litigation
  • Professional Liability and Discipline
    • Accountants
    • Attorneys
  • Public Records and Open Meetings
  • Securities, Shareholder Disputes, and Corporate Governance

Industries

• Building, Construction, and Design Services
• Energy and Utilities
• Financial Institutions
• Retail and Wholesale Trade

Education

• University of Washington School of Law, J.D., 1972
  University of Washington Law Review, Managing Editor, 1971-1972
• Northwestern University, B.A., 1969

Bar & Court Admissions

• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Colorado (inactive)
• Washington (inactive)

Mr. Read is a partner in the Vorys Cleveland office and a member of the litigation group. His trial practice focuses on complex litigation on behalf of lenders, employers, utilities and manufacturers in state and federal courts, including bankruptcy courts. Working with lawyers in the Vorys Akron, Columbus and Cincinnati offices, he coordinates Ohio consumer finance and employment litigation for certain large out-of-state clients. Additionally, he acts as outside general counsel to an enterprise that owns heating and cooling utilities in Ohio, Michigan and Virginia.

Career highlights include:

• Acting as lead counsel in a jury trial resulting in a $3.25 million verdict in a case involving the theft of a design of a rolling mill
• Acting as lead counsel in a trial resulting in a defense verdict for a London-based bank in a case involving a contractual dispute over ownership of a shipload of hijacked pig iron
• Successfully persuading the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of a national financial services organization that the Ohio Constitution preempts cities and counties from passing predatory lending ordinances
• Representing former partners of a bankrupt law firm against a Trustee seeking to have them disgorge income they had earned during the years before the firm collapsed
• Participating in Operation Homecoming (the repatriation of the Vietnam POWs) while on active duty in the Navy

Mr. Read is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute.

Mr. Read has been a member of National Institute of Trial Advocacy faculties for many years, teaching courses on trial techniques and how to take effective depositions. 

Mr. Read received his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law where he was the Managing Editor of the University of Washington Law Review.  He received his B.A. from Northwestern University.

Professional and Community Activities

• Former Ohio State Bar Examiner
• Northwestern University Alumni Clubs of Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Former President
• Achievement Centers for Children, Former Board Member

Honors & Awards

• The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, 2010
• Ohio Super Lawyers, Civil Litigation Defense, 2006-2010
• Inside Business, Northeastern Ohio's Leading Lawyers, 2002-2010

News

• 54 Vorys Attorneys Recognized as 2010 Ohio Super Lawyers
• Eight Vorys Attorneys Selected as Leading Lawyers by Inside Business Magazine
• Vorys ranked #1 law firm in Ohio on 2010 Best Lawyers in America® list
• 70 Vorys Attorneys Recognized as 2009 Ohio Super Lawyers
• Eight Vorys Attorneys Selected as Leading Lawyers by Inside Business Magazine
• Vorys Attorneys Named on 2009 Best Lawyers in America List
• Nine Vorys Attorneys Selected as Leading Lawyers