John Johnson

John “Johnny” Johnson (Col ’79 L/M) has been named a National Law Journal Energy & Environmental Trailblazer for 2017. Each year, the publication recognizes lawyers who have had a career-long impact in energy and environmental law. After extensive vetting and interviewing, the National Law Journal selected a handful of attorneys out of hundreds of nominations. Mr. Johnson is profiled alongside the other honorees in the June 6 issue.

Mr. Johnson was one of the first lawyers in the Southeast to focus on environmental litigation. For decades, his book, The Pesticide Litigation Manual, has been a go-to reference for defense and plaintiffs’ lawyers across the country handling environmental cases. It is still in print today as Defending Pesticides in Litigation.

Mr. Johnson is a founding partner of Lightfoot, Franklin & White, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. 

When the firm was founded, Mr. Johnson handled all of Monsanto’s pesticide cases in the Southeast — setting precedents that shaped future litigation around the country. He was also the lead lawyer for the state of Alabama in its groundbreaking and headline-grabbing water rights dispute with Georgia,State of Alabama v. United States Army Corps of Engineers. His efforts led to an historic agreement between Alabama, Georgia and Florida to study and manage their shared water resources.