Long, Ragsdale and Waters, P.C.

John frequently represents developers in commercial real estate transactions, and also represents lenders, buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants and other parties. He has represented clients in all stages of development, from optioning property through financing, zoning, acquisition, leasing, operating and selling a number of projects, including “big box” developments involving Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Meijer, Walgreen, Best Buy and similar businesses. He has worked on projects throughout the Southeast from Ohio to Florida.

Waters represents a variety of companies and individuals with regard to business transactions and problems. He worked primarily in the areas of commercial litigation and bankruptcy for the first fifteen years of his career and continues to represent clients involved in lawsuits, bankruptcies, workouts and similar commercial situations.

As an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee School of Law since 1999, John teaches the real estate development module of “Representing Enterprises,” along with his partner, Dennis Ragsdale.

Waters received his Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate and Urban Development from the University of Tennessee in 1977, graduating summa cum laude. At Tennessee, he was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma honorary fraternities and is also a Sigma Chi. After working for a national bank, John Waters studied at Georgetown University Law Center, receiving his Juris Doctor degree in 1981. At Georgetown, he was a member of the National Moot Court Team, recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award and recipient of the Corpus Juris Secundum Award for significant legal scholarship.

John Waters has raced more than 50 triathlons over the last 20 years and continues to be an avid cyclist. He is also a frequent participant in shooting sports, including USPSA, IDPA, 3-Gun, Steel Challenge and other disciplines. He represents a number of clients involved in the shooting sports and firearms industries.

John grew up in Sevier County, Tennessee, where he continues to have family and business interests.