John M. Rushing

Rated by Super Lawyers

loading …

About

John Rushing is a premier trial attorney and oral advocate who, as the leader of Rushing McCarl’s trial team, has secured multimillion-dollar jury verdicts in several state and federal jury trials since co-founding the firm in 2020. These victories included wins in contract and partnership disputes brought for California businesses, including a unanimous $17.8 million jury verdict won for a large manufacturer. Mr. Rushing was named to Super Lawyers in 2025.

With a decade of experience in the entertainment industry as an actor and producer, Mr. Rushing has a sense of stage presence and a gift for narrative, allowing him to connect with juries on a human level.

Mr. Rushing began his career as a litigator at Sidley Austin LLP, where he was a member of one of the nation’s premier products liability practice groups and handled complex cases relating to pharmaceutical products, medical devices, environmental injuries, and insurance coverage. After many years at Sidley, Mr. Rushing became a plaintiff’s attorney focusing on protecting individuals hurt by nursing home negligence and medical malpractice.

After almost a decade in legal practice, Mr. Rushing shifted his focus to the entertainment sector, where he worked as a film producer and virtual reality entrepreneur. His experience as a litigator and startup founder allows him to bring comprehensive legal insights to companies and individuals seeking aggressive representation.

Mr. Rushing earned his J.D. with honors from The University of Texas School of Law, where he served as a staff member for The Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. While at Texas, Mr. Rushing served as a teaching assistant in a graduate-level course on public policy. Mr. Rushing also earned his M.A. in Scholastic Theology (Medieval Philosophy) and Modern Theology from the University of Oxford as well as a B.A. with Honors in Philosophy from Calvin College.

Mr. Rushing is a competitive sailor and has crewed a Transpac, rounded Cape Horn, sailed to Antarctica, and been a member of the U.S. 11-meter sailing team.

You can review examples of Rushing McCarl’s public work here.

Education

J.D. with Honors, The University of Texas School of Law
M. Phil., Scholastic Theology, Oxford University
B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Philosophy, Calvin College

Selected Publications and Presentations

John Rushing Interviewed on the Great Trials Podcast (2026)
Acting for Lawyers (CLE), Clear Law Institute (2021)
Business Property Insurance May Cover COVID-19-related Losses, Daily Journal (2020)
Nursing Home Litigation: A Summary, Chicago Bar Journal (2008)
Vote Swapping and Free Speech: Voice, Politics, and Choice, 7 Tex. Forum Civ. Liberties & Civ. Rights 73 (2002); article quoted by the Ninth Circuit in Porter v. Jones, Case No. 06-55517 (filed August 6, 2007)

Notable Results

Representing plaintiffs:

  • Won a $17.8 million jury verdict in a breach-of-contract case involving a major cosmetics manufacturer (Virgin Scent, Inc. v. BT Supplies W., Inc.).
  • Won a $9.9 million jury verdict in a partnership dispute involving the largest cannabis business in Kern County (Delis v. Thorn).*
  • Won a $3.3 million jury verdict in a dispute involving a breach of a medical practice sale contract and nonsolicitation agreement (Leyster v. Tran).
  • Won a California Labor Commissioner judgment exceeding $468,000 for an iHeartRadio DJ in a fraud case involving the Talent Agencies Act.
  • Won a default judgment exceeding $500,000 in a cryptocurrency fraud case; the case was covered in Forbes, leading to an FBI investigation and indictment (Chavez v. Jordan-Jones).
  • Won a Ninth Circuit reversal for a victim of an in-flight assault (Doe v. Compania Panamena de Aviacion).
  • Named co-lead plaintiffs’ counsel in putative deceptive-advertising class action based on a manufacturer’s failure to disclose its use of lead in Stanley Tumbler drinkware (In re Stanley Tumbler Litigation).
  • Won a favorable pretrial settlement of a malpractice and conversion case against an AmLaw 100 law firm (DSS Risk Consultants v. ArentFox).
  • Represented the family estate of musician Leonard Cohen in malpractice litigation against his former law firm (Seibert v. Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP).

Representing defendants:

  • Won a total victory (settlement with the plaintiff paying our client) for an employee who was sued in a trade-secrets case (T2 Modus, LLC v. Williams).
  • Won a total victory (settlement paying the plaintiff nothing) for a shipping company that was sued in a secured-transactions case.
  • Won a jury verdict on four of five claims as trial counsel in a securities fraud case, defeating RICO allegations that sought eight-figure damages (Altaa v. Production Cap.).
  • Favorably resolved trademark claims brought by Patagonia against Rushing McCarl clients within weeks of taking each case, resolving one matter for $0 and the other for a nominal sum ($1,860) (Patagonia v. Kranz).

Other:

  • Wrote an amicus brief signed by 1,700 University of Michigan alumni, garnering national news coverage  (Harbaugh v. Big Ten Conf).
  • Wrote an amicus brief for ClientEarth and The Shareholder Commons in a securities-regulation case, with the Fifth Circuit citing the brief in its ruling (Nat’l Ctr. for Pub. Pol’y Res. v. SEC).
  • Wrote an amicus brief for 14 signatories in a case about state land-surveying regulations (Crownholm v. Moore).
  • Wrote a pioneering amicus brief on workplace caste discrimination, leading to invitations to present to the Department of Justice and other federal agencies (California DFEH v. Cisco Sys., Inc.).

* After civil-theft damages are automatically trebled under Cal. Pen. Code § 496(c).

Licenses

California
Texas (inactive)
Illinois (inactive)
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California
United States District Court for the Central District of California
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
United States District Court for the Western District of Washington

Affiliations

American Civil Liberties Union
American Constitution Society

Contact Us