John is committed to achieving the best result for every client. He achieves these results through his hard work and honesty. He is best known for his abilities in the court room as a trial lawyer. A jury member in a recent murder case John defended said John is like “your uncle Joe … you know everything he tells you is true.” He specializes in high-stakes litigation in both Federal and State courts in Wyoming the West and across the country.
Most important to John after 25 years of experience as a counselor and trial lawyer: working for clients whose causes are just. A good example of this is his recent work to change Wyoming’s criminal justice system to ensure young women are given the same opportunity as men and be able to participate in Wyoming’s Boot Camp Program (See: Blanchard v. Reinke in “Results Matter”).
John has extensive experience in civil rights litigation, having prosecuted more civil rights cases in Wyoming than any other lawyer. John’s civil rights cases have included holding accountable: police officers, school districts, colleges and their officials, health care professionals, Department of Family Services employees, and private companies performing government jobs. John also has significant experience in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, complex contract disputes and class action litigation with successful results in numerous contract disputes involving Wyoming and Montana business clients. John has tried more than 80 trials to Wyoming juries, including winning six straight high-stakes cases which went to jury since April of 2013. Those cases included two murder cases, one high-profile defense of a well-respected Wyoming County Attorney prosecuted for seven felony charges all of which resulted in acquittals, and a jury verdict and attorney’s fees award in a civil rights case against the Hot Springs County Sheriff.
John has recently litigated two civil rights, first amendment retaliation cases against Wyoming municipalities on behalf of city employees who voiced concerns about corruption. John’s hard work over the past 20+ years has resulted in improvements in Wyoming law, including getting the Wyoming Supreme Court to protect Wyoming citizens’ privacy in their homes, even against corporate spyware, recognition of a cause of action for a child having been switched at birth, and overturning decades of deficient homicide instructions in second degree murder cases.