Overview
John Bredehoft’s four decades of legal experience encompass a deep and broad range of subject-matter expertise in employment law, all forms of discrimination, and the rules affecting financial institutions. He is a trusted advisor dedicated to keeping his clients out of court, but he also has a wealth of experience in state and federal first-chair jury trials and state and federal appellate court arguments. Over the years he has litigated in courts in over forty states.
John regularly advises clients on compliance questions, involving everything from ADA and Fair Housing Act disability questions to administrative proceedings, novel or not, as well as all aspects of financial institutions law and employment law. When needed, he is an experienced and aggressive – although very nice and polite – litigator. His courtroom expertise often finds him assisting or in the first chair of complex and not-so-complex litigation in almost every substantive field of the law.
John had his initial first-chair trial experience in January 1984, and he keeps going. Few practitioners have both an active litigation and an active counseling practice as extensive as his. Jury trials are becoming a thing of the past, but he’s had thirty or more. His appellate practice continues with vibrancy in both federal and Virginia appellate courts.
He is a frequent speaker to legal, business, and industry groups. He teaches national compliance courses for financial institution employee certification. John has made presentations on subjects ranging from (unsurprisingly) class actions and Trump executive orders, to cybercommuting for forest rangers, AI in HR, and the Virginia State Bar’s legal writing seminar for new lawyers. He has spoken in venues from Boston to San Diego, Key West to Portland, Oregon and many of the places in between. And he’s not dull.
John’s reputation in the employment bar is of note. After several years representing and counseling employees (and more than a few victories in state and federal cases of first impression), John has counseled and represented only employers for about three decades. He believes it is easier to achieve a good result by advising employers, who almost always want to do the right thing, how to do the right thing; suing employers is an inefficient and ultimately ineffective path. He served the Virginia Bar Association as a member of the governing counsel of the VBA Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law longer than anyone else (largely because of serendipity – or is it fortuity?). He is one of the 20 ever proud recipients of the VBA’s Francis V. Louden, Jr., Award, given for “intelligence, loyalty, and integrity.”
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Representative Matters
Frequently provides custom training, policy guidance, and advice on specific situations to employers of all sizes regarding compliance with civil rights and other employment laws
Routinely defends employers in state and federal administrative agencies, as well as in state and federal court proceedings, against claims of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, failure to accommodate, and other clams under anti-discrimination laws including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and state human rights laws
Won dismissal of multiple federal civil cases against credit unions, the first such dismissals in the nation, alleging their websites did not comply with the public accommodation provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act; won unanimous reported decision in first-in-the-nation federal appellate case as well as winning first-in-the-nation federal district court case
Turned back an attempt to hold a financial institution liable for an unrelated company’s “scammed” transfer of funds through the institution; news reports called it a first-in-the-nation case, won on appeal, which threatened to shut down electronic fund transfers and consequently the U.S. economy
Regularly provides representation and counsel in class actions against financial institutions alleging procedural or regulatory irregularities
Defended multiple federal court “collective” actions alleging unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as other single-employee claims
Written and enforced many covenants restricting competition by former employees, including obtaining preliminary injunctions against unfair competition and money damages for violation of a valid covenant
Conversely, also defended against many attempts to enforce invalid covenants, either by negotiated resolution or litigation, on behalf of new employers
Represented employers and others in ADA and Fair Housing Act accessibility matters and other cases of claims for reasonable accommodation
Experienced in arbitration involving employment or civil rights matters, consumer claims, and other cases
Recognition & Honors
Honors & Recognitions
Best Lawyers in America, 1995-2026
America’s Leading Business Lawyers, Tier One; Chambers USA, 2004-2025
Go To Lawyer – Employment Law; Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 2021
Top Lawyers; CoVaBIZ Magazine, 2020-2025
Norfolk Employment Law – Management Lawyer of the Year; Best Lawyers in America, 2013, 2018, 2024
Norfolk Labor and Employment Lawyer of the Year; Best Lawyers in America, 2010, 2019
Virginia Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition; Law & Politics, 2008-2010
Virginia Super Lawyers; Law & Politics, 2007-2025
Virginia’s Legal Elite; Virginia Business Magazine, 2009-2025
AV® Rated; Martindale-Hubbell
Virginia State Bar faculty on Professionalism; Past Member
Press & Publications
News
Speaking Engagements
Community & Professional
Associations
Virginia State Bar Education of Lawyers Section; Former Chair and Former Member of Board of Governors
Virginia State Bar; former chair of Professionalism for Law Students program
Virginia State Bar Standing Committee on Professionalism; Past Member
Virginia Bar Association; Chairman, Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, 2006-2007; Member, Governing Council, Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, 1997-2009
District of Columbia Bar
Maryland State Bar
Credentials
Education
Harvard College; A.B., magna cum laude in History, 1980
Harvard Law School; J.D., cum laude, 1983
Court Admissions
Federal courts including U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeal for the First, Third, Fourth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits; U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, for the District of Maryland; for the Eastern District of Virginia, and for the District of Montana.
Beyond the Law
Don’t get him started talking about history or trivia. You will never get him to stop. Do you know the connection between the Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, and the breakup of the Beatles? Or the only person to win a Nobel Peace Prize and have a number one hit on the Billboard charts? (Hint: it’s a US vice president.) He’s a published author in Alternative History (DEMOCRACY’S MISSING ARSENAL, volumes one and two, three forthcoming).
