Our Attorneys

r. Johnson is involved in all areas of the firm's litigation practice, with particular emphasis on prosecuting securities fraud actions, complex commercial litigation, patent litigation, and trial practice.

Among other matters, Mr. Johnson was one of the partners who prosecuted the In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation - resulting in a recovery for investors of over $6.15 billion after five weeks of trial - one of the largest securities fraud recoveries in history.  He also oversaw the firm's prosecution of In re Williams Securities Litigation in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.  The Williams case required a massive undertaking by BLB&G, including the need to take and defend 170 depositions and to review and analyze over 18 million pages of documents.  The case proceeded through class certification discovery, fact discovery, expert discovery, summary judgment, and trial preparation.  Shortly before trial, BLB&G and the Lead Plaintiffs were able to obtain a total recovery from the defendants of $311 million.  This is among the largest recoveries ever achieved in a securities class action in which the corporate defendant did not restate its financial results, and where the SEC did not obtain any recovery for investors.  Mr. Johnson was also one of the partners responsible for prosecuting the OM Group Securities Litigation, which resulted in a $92.4 million recovery for investors.

Mr. Johnson is overseeing the firm's prosecution of the securities class action concerning allegations of fraud in Washington Mutual's home loan business, along with fellow partner Hannah Ross, and associates Jerry Bien-Willner and Katherine Sinderson.  The case is being prosecuted on behalf of Lead Plaintiff, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, and a class of other investors.  In addition to Washington Mutual, the defendants include certain senior officers and directors of the company.  The complaint filed by BLB&G on behalf of Ontario Teachers presents the results of one of the most wide-ranging, intensive and fruitful investigations conducted in this area.  The nearly 400-page complaint presents evidence gathered from eighty-nine (89) confidential witnesses who observed from their various professional positions at the company and elsewhere conduct within Washington Mutual that had not been previously known by, or disclosed to, the investing public.  The complaint also discusses internal, non-public  Washington Mutual documents obtained by BLB&G as part of its investigation into the wrongdoing at Washington Mutual, along with the analyses of experts in the fields of banking regulation, mortgage financing, and accounting concerning the facts uncovered about Washington Mutual's home loan business.  The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Mr. Johnson is responsible for overseeing the firm's prosecution of the federal derivative action against the individuals involved in the options backdating scandal at UnitedHealth Group, Inc.  That case is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.  In connection with that lawsuit, BLB&G represents several public pension funds, all of whom are Court-appointed Lead Plaintiffs in the case.  Since the initiation of that lawsuit, the company has effectively acknowledged that it engaged in options backdating and the company's Chairman and CEO (and a recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars of apparently backdated stock options), William McGuire, has been forced out of the company because of his involvement in the scandal.

Mr. Johnson is overseeing the firm's prosecution (with co-counsel) of numerous patent litigations now pending against major electronics manufacturers including Nikon, Samsung, LG.Philips, and others.  These patent litigations relate to the technology used to manufacture flat panel displays, including LCD televisions, as well as well as semi-conductor chips.  The technology at issue was developed by a New York-based manufacturing company, Anvik Corporation, which holds the patents at issue.  As alleged in the complaints, the technology was subsequently misappropriated by certain companies based overseas.  The cases allege that the defendants are manufacturing products sold into the United States using Anvik's patented technology without Anvik's permission.  The revenues defendants are generating using Anvik's patented technology, as alleged in the complaints, is in the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars per year.  These cases are all pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Johnson was a partner with Latham & Watkins, where he practiced for ten years.  While with Latham & Watkins, he represented investment banks, accounting firms, law firms, boards of directors, and both publicly and privately held companies.  He has extensive experience in the areas of securities and professional liability litigation, complex commercial litigation, patent litigation, and international arbitration.  He has also handled a variety of matters before federal and state courts, as well as arbitration tribunals both in the United States and abroad, including the International Chamber of Commerce, the London Court of International Arbitration, the Netherlands Arbitration Institute, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the American Arbitration Association, and JAMS/Endispute.