Walters, John B.

Since joining Jones Day, John's practice has focused on defending national clients in high-stakes product liability litigation. He has been extensively involved in representing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in smoking and health litigation in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico courts, including significant contributions in two month-long trials in Florida. John has significant experience arguing legal issues in federal and state courts and is a member of the Georgia Bar and the Florida Bar. Recently, following the decertification of a high-profile Florida class action, John has been active in the management and defense of thousands of smoking and health actions brought by individual plaintiffs in dozens of Florida jurisdictions. In particular, John has been coordinating R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's strategy in these cases on key legal and trial issues.

Before attending law school, John was among the first participants in Jones Day's Morehouse-Spelman Internship Program. For more than 10 years, the internship program at Jones Day has provided unparalleled learning opportunities for talented, law school bound students from two of the nation's most prominent historically black colleges — Morehouse College and Spelman College, in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon returning to Jones Day after law school, John helped grow the program and now serves as its co-coordinator and as a mentor to interns past and present.

John also speaks and writes fluent Spanish and has donated his time and talents to various activities sponsored by local Latin-American organizations. John has been selected as one of "Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Stars" numerous times.