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Jonathan P. Farmer
Partner
Overview
Jonathan Farmer obtains the best possible results for clients through zealous advocacy and creative, thoughtful solutions, allowing them to navigate potentially damaging situations through risk mitigation, litigation, and alternative dispute resolution. He concentrates his practice in the areas of criminal defense and government investigations, personal injury, wrongful death, and civil litigation.
Immediately after graduating from law school, Jonathan served as an assistant Metropolitan Nashville public defender for three years before entering private practice. Prior to joining Spencer Fane, he founded and was named a partner in a successful boutique law firm, where he was quickly recognized by peers and clients alike for his outstanding advocacy.
In his 25 years of experience as a criminal defense practitioner, Jonathan has tried hundreds of cases to verdict in federal and state courts and has defended some of the largest and most complex prosecutions in the Middle District of Tennessee. His federal criminal experience includes prosecutions and / or investigations into public corruption, health care fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and securities fraud. Jonathan’s state court criminal experience includes defending a large variety of matters, such as DUI, drug-related offenses, and other state court felonies and misdemeanors.
Jonathan also has a thriving commercial litigation practice. He has obtained favorable verdicts and settlements in injury claims, including negligence claims, premises liability claims, catastrophic injury claims, and other related matters. He has also successfully represented clients in all manner of business and commercial disputes.
Beyond private practice, Jonathan regularly lectures as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School, teaching trial advocacy. He was also notably selected by the judges of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the Middle District of Tennessee as a member of the panel to appoint the Federal Defender and as a member of the standing Local Rules Committee. In 2024, Jonathan was named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America, a testament to his highly successful and client-centered practice.
Credentials
Education
- University of Tennessee College of Law, 2000 (J.D.)
- University of Tennessee, 1996 (B.A.)
- Represented clients in multiple complex federal white-collar cases, including public corruption matters, fraud cases, drug-related offenses, and a variety of other federal felonies and misdemeanors.
- Defended clients in a wide array of state court felony and misdemeanor cases, including DUI and driving-related offenses, drug offenses, theft and fraud offenses, assaults, probation violations, homicide, and a variety of other matters.
- Represented clients who were the subject of federal and state government investigations.
- Obtained favorable verdicts and settlements for plaintiffs in personal injury cases, including negligence claims, premises liability claims, automobile accidents, catastrophic injury claims, and other related matters.
- Successfully represented clients in all manner of business disputes, achieving the desired results at a reasonable cost.
- Represented clients in class cases, derivative matters, and shareholder litigation in both federal and state court.
- Woodmont Christian Church, Board Member
- Dismas House of Nashville, Board Member
- Volunteer Tennessee, Board Member
- Vanderbilt Law School, Adjunct Faculty Member
- Harry Phillips Chapter of the American Inn of Court, Member
- Hands On Nashville, Volunteer
- Room In The Inn, Volunteer
- Nashville Food Project, Volunteer
- Nashville Bar Fellow
- Local Rules Committee for U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Member
- Committee to Appoint the Federal Defender for the Middle District of Tennessee, Member
- Best Lawyers in America, Criminal Defense: General Practice; Criminal Defense: White-Collar; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, 2022-2025
- Lawyer of the Year, 2024
- Mid-South Super Lawyers, 2020-2021
- American Bar Association
- Nashville Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys
- Middle District of Tennessee, Criminal Justice Act Panel