John L. Waite III was born in Springfield, Missouri and attended Missouri State University where he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1996 with dual majors in Finance and Insurance/Risk Management and a minor in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corp program. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army National Guard and attended Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, as an artillery officer. Including his time as a cadet, John served 11 years in the military. John subsequently obtained his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Missouri State University in 1999 while working in the securities industry as a portfolio administrator with State Street Bank in Kansas City, Missouri.

In 2000, John was accepted into the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law. John worked full-time as a securities trader with M&I Global Securities Lending while attending law school in the evenings. After graduating law school in 2003, John accepted a judicial clerkship with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada. Following his clerkship, John worked for a national law firm in Kansas City, Missouri. Over the next 10 years, John’s legal experience consisted of a general litigation practice involving real estate transactions, employment law, contract disputes, collections and creditors’ rights, bankruptcy, family law, probate disputes, and FINRA/AAA arbitration. John was also appointed as a guardian ad litem to represent children who were placed in foster care due to neglect and/or abuse suffered at the hands of their parents or other caregivers.

In 2016, John returned to Las Vegas, Nevada, and began working for the Clark County, Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada, as a compliance officer and law clerk with the Probate Department.

In 2020, John returned to the private practice of law, where he practiced in the areas of estate planning, probate/trust litigation, guardianship, and family law. In 2024, John joined the Standish Law Group focusing his practice to family law.

John has been recognized for his professional accomplishments through his selection as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers in 2013, 2014 and 2015.