John Smithee represents businesses, families, and individuals in high-stakes disputes across Texas and the nation.
Drawing on experience in the legislative, judicial, and litigation arenas, he handles matters ranging from complex business and antitrust litigation to appeals and nationally reported cases. When a dispute threatens a business, a project, or a family’s interests, John helps clients understand their options and decide what to do next.
John has helped clients obtain millions of dollars in recoveries. His cases have drawn national attention, with coverage in The New York Times, Law360, Sportico, the San Antonio Express-News, and ABC 7 Amarillo. He has been invited to speak on antitrust law at the University of North Carolina School of Law and to other audiences about developments in construction law, discovery rules, and related issues.
His work includes commercial and contract disputes, antitrust and unfair competition, construction litigation, fraud and deceptive trade practices, trademark and copyright disputes, trust and estate litigation, solar litigation, oil and gas litigation, and appeals.
Families of missing service members. Represented families of seven missing World War II service members in a case seeking to identify their loved ones’ remains, which were buried as unknowns at Manila American Cemetery. Several of the service members died as prisoners of war after surviving the Bataan Death March. One was the first Medal of Honor recipient during World War II. The work combined archival research, DNA-testing strategy, constitutional and Administrative Procedure Act claims, and public advocacy for families who had waited decades for answers. Local and national coverage followed the families’ effort, which ultimately helped prompt action to identify missing service members.
Antitrust litigation. Represented an Amarillo-based cheer and dance company in antitrust and trademark litigation challenging alleged anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the all-star cheerleading industry. The suit alleged a group boycott and received national attention.
Appeals. John has handled appeals before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, the Supreme Court of Texas, and Texas courts of appeals in Amarillo, Dallas, Corpus Christi-Edinburg, El Paso, and Fort Worth.
Amarillo Area Young Lawyers Association, Vice President
Amarillo Area Bar Association, Member
Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
State Bar of Texas Appellate Law Section, Member
Construction Law Section for Tarrant County, 2021
“Key Construction Contract Provisions and Treatment From the Owner’s and Contractor’s Perspective,” Tarrant County Bar Association Construction Law Section Luncheon
“Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and Responding to Discovery Requests,” Amarillo Paralegal Luncheon
An Amarillo native, John serves as a deacon at First Baptist Church Amarillo and on the board of the Turn Center. He is a past president of the Amarillo Area Young Lawyers Association. He and his wife are raising their three daughters in Amarillo.
State Bar of Texas, 2015
State Bar of Tennessee, 2017
J.D., Southern Methodist Dedman School of Law, cum laude, 2015
B.B.A., Texas A&M University, 2012
