John Bowers

John D. Bowers serves as Thompson Burton’s Chief Executive Officer. In this role, he is responsible for developing and implementing the Firm’s business strategy.

Prior to joining the Firm, John served in law firm executive roles with a tax and estates boutique in Nebraska as well as the largest intellectual property boutique in Tennessee. He brings years of law firm leadership in finance, technology, business development and marketing, facilities, attorney and staff recruitment, human resources and benefits operations.

John’s career in the legal industry began in 2000 in the Accounts Payable Department of an American Lawyer 200 firm and he transitioned into progressively more consequential leadership roles on business development teams for Philadelphia-based firms including Fox Rothschild, Saul Ewing, and Duane Morris.

Active in professional and community organizations, John serves as a Board Member of the Battlefield of Franklin Trust, Trustee at ClearView Baptist Church, Mentor in the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Battle Ground Academy as well at the Williamson County's Entrepreneurial and Innovation Center, and is an active member of  the Middle Tennessee Association of Legal Administrators and the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Division. John is the proud husband to Sarah Jane and they live in Franklin together with their daughter and son.

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Education

B.S. in International Business, Messiah University, 1999
             - International Business Institute, 1998

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Public Speaking

• Co-Presenter, "#LovedJennie - The Movement: Equal Access to Mental Health" Association of Legal Administrators' Chapter Leadership Institute, July 19, 2024.
• Moderator, "Summer Associate Programs" Middle Tennessee Association of Legal Administrators, June 20, 2024.
• Interviewee, “The Middle Tennessee Chapter Turns Grief into Action”‍Legal Management magazine, March 14, 2024.
• Interviewee, “Navigating the Multi-Generational Law Firm” Centerbase webinar, August 17, 2023.
• Moderator, “Quiet Quitting, Comp Comparisons, Benefits? Oh MY!!” Tennessee Association of Legal Administrators Statewide Retreat, February 17, 2023.
• Moderator, “The Office: Revisited,” Tennessee Association of Legal Administrators Statewide Retreat, February, 18, 2022.
• Interviewee, “Financial Controls for Law Firms: Accounting Policy” Legal Visionaries podcast, November 2, 2021.
• Co-Moderator, “Neurodiversity in the Courtroom: Supporting the Differently-Wired Brain,” Tennessee Bench/Bar Program, June 17, 2021.
• Presenter, “Law Firm Economics 101” National Association of Legal Secretaries Nashville Chapter, November 11, 2020.
• Moderator, “Great Minds Don’t Always Think Alike: Neurodiversity in the Practice of Law,” American Bar Association, August 18, 2020.
• Co-Moderator, “Great Minds Don’t Always Think Alike: Neurodiversity in the Practice of Law,” Nashville Bar Association, December 12, 2019.
• Panelist, “The New Legal Marketplace: Clients and the Competition,” LAWPACT international law firm network, November 3, 2017.
• Panelist, “Ask the Experts: Marketing,” ABA Law Practice Division Fall Meeting, October 22, 2015.
• Moderator, “How to Ask for New Business & Seal the Deal,” ABA Women Rainmakers, October 15, 2015.
• Quoted, “Get the Career You Want with a Professional Development Coach,” Connecticut Lawyer, July/August 2014.
• Panelist, “Discussing Big Data Opportunities with Firm Partners, from ‘No-Brainers’ to ‘Game Changers’,” American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting, July 15, 2014.
• Co-Presenter, “What Your Lawyers Wish You Knew about Litigation,” LMA International Conference, April 8, 2013.
• Quoted, “Why Law Firm Marketers Don’t Like PR Firms,” Marketing the Law Firm, August 2012
• Panelist, “Developing a Book of Business: the First Steps to Success,” ABA Young Lawyers Division – Litigation Committee, March 30, 2012.
• Panelist, “Business Development,” ABA New Partner and In-House Counsel Conference, March 3, 2012.
• Co-Presenter, “Internal Communication Do’s and Don’ts in Crisis Situations,” ABA Law Practice Management Section and the ABA Center for CLE, May 21, 2009.
• Co-Presenter, “Define Your Event Strategy: Maximize Your Business Development Opportunities,” Law Marketing Day at ABA Midyear, February 9, 2007.
• Interviewee, “ABA Law Practice Division: John Bowers and the Law Practice Magazine” The Digital Edge podcast, November 11, 2014.

Publications

How to Find Contentment Amid Career Ambitions
November 2024 Law Practice magazine

Book Reading is Fun[damental]
July 2024 Law Practice magazine

Just Power Through: Equal Access to Mental Wellness in Law
March 2024 Law Practice magazine

Social Modesty: Turning Down the Noise
December 2023 Law Practice magazine

Workplace Continuum: From Engagement to Moral Injury
July/August 2023 Law Practice magazine

‍Intergenerational Distractions: Previously Unpublished?
March/April 2023 Law Practice magazine

‍Confronting Low Unemployment in Legal: Retain Good People
November/December 2022 Law Practice magazine

‍Resolving Client Complaints
July/August 2022 Law Practice magazine

‍Elite Teams Chase Not the Star, but the Right Atmosphere‍

March/April 2022 Law Practice magazine

‍Financial Wellness: Your Secret Stress Deterrent
November/December 2021 Law Practice magazine

‍Planning for Client Transitions Is Not Just for Solos
July/August 2021 Law Practice magazine

‍Solos and Small Firms: What’s Your Endgame?
June 15, 2021 Law Practice Today

‍Fighting Financial Fraud in Legal
March 2021 Law Practice magazine

‍Changing Tech and Managing Change: Pandemic Agility and Empathy
Jan 15, 2021  Law Practice magazine

‍Neurodiversity in the Practice of Law: Great Minds Don’t Always Think Alike
Nov 15, 2020  Law Practice magazine

‍10 Reasons You Should Hire a Nonlawyer Administrator
Sep 2, 2020  Law Practice

‍Billing Policy: The Humdrum Profitability Conundrum
May 1, 2020  Law Practice magazine

‍Smart Growth: Deliberate Recruiting
Nov 6, 2019  Law Practice

‍Smart Growth: Hiring Due Diligence
Sep 30, 2019  Law Practice

‍Neurodiversity: Disability Masking Caped-Ability
Sep 15, 2019  Law Practice Today

‍Smart Growth: Monitoring Productivity
Jul 31, 2019  Law Practice

Law Firm Growth: Key Considerations in Expansion
May 31, 2017 Law Practice

‍Attorney-Led Client Surveying: Curbing the Pettifogger Coefficient
Oct 2016  Law Practice Today

‍Budgeting Shouldn’t be a Crisis
Sep 1, 2016  Law Practice

‍Life Beyond BigLaw: Why “SmallerLaw” is a preferred option for some.
Nov 2014  Law Practice

‍From the Social Media Trenches: A Roundtable Discussion
June 2012  Law Practice Today

‍Partner Advice for Newer Lawyers
May 2012  Law Practice Today

‍The Key to Business Development: Trusting Your Attorneys
Nov 2011  Strategies, Legal Marketing Association

‍“RFP” Is Not Acronymic For “New Found Revenue”
Aug 2011  Law Practice Today

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