John C. Toro

• Defending Capital One in over 60 consumer class actions arising from the data breach the company announced in July 2019.
• Successfully defended Equifax in MDL involving hundreds of consumer and financial institutions class actions filed in the wake of a high-profile 2017 data breach.
• Defended Equifax in numerous purported class actions over the last five years, many of which ended with dispositive rulings in Equifax's favor.
• Defending Truist Bank in securities litigation in the Southern District of New York arising from syndicated-loan transaction, and in related fraudulent-transfer litigation in District of Delaware Bankruptcy Court.
• Represented Rayonier in dispute concerning contract for the sale of chemical cellulose in Eastman Chemical Company v. Rayonier Advanced Materials, Inc., No. 15-ck-40024(c) (Tenn. Ch. Ct.).
• Represented General Electric in billion-dollar federal trial concerning the calculation and allocation of pension benefits under government contract.
• Represented private equity firm in post-deal dispute—which ended in a victorious trial—in Cyber Holding, LLC v. CyberCore Holding, Inc., 2016 WL 791069 (Del. Ch. 2016).
• Represented multiple clients, including healthcare providers and financial institutions, in insurance coverage lawsuits arising from False Claims Act investigations and settlements.
• Briefed and argued Ross v. Fogam, 2016 WL 66668 (11th Cir. 2016), in which the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court order dismissing civil rights plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment claims with prejudice.

John Toro zealously represents his clients in complex, high-stakes litigation in federal and state courts across the country.  John’s practice focuses on contract and business tort cases, consumer class actions, and disputes arising from corporate transactions.  In 2025, Best Lawyers named John as the Atlanta Lawyer of the Year for class action defense work, and John was recognized as a Client-Service Allstar in 2024.  

Before joining King & Spalding, John was a litigation attorney with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.  Before entering private practice, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable D. Brooks Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and to the Honorable Robert L. Hinkle on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

John graduated cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center.  While in law school, he served as the Senior Articles Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal and competed on the Barristers’ Council’s Moot Court team.  He received his B.A. in Philosophy, magna cum laude, from Georgia Southern University.

Publications

• The Charade of Tradition-Based Substantive Due Process, 4 NYU J. of Law & Liberty 172 (2009).
• Why Principles of Federalism Demand that Tort Law be Left up to the States, 7 Georgetown J. of Law & Public Policy 655 (2009).