Brian D. Johnson
Associate
Brian Johnson returned to the firm in 2025 after a previous engagement from 2017-2018. In the interim, he served as a judicial officer for a California state agency, ruling on various administrative matters involving the state civil service. Mr. Johnson returned to the firm because he missed the challenge of civil litigation and the reward of achieving good results for clients.
During his prior engagement with the firm, Mr. Johnson’s practice focused on employment litigation, business litigation, and general insurance defense. Mr. Johnson’s other legal experience is varied, and includes five years working at a medical malpractice defense firm in the Sacramento area, and a year working at a southern California firm that focused on employment litigation and class action consumer lawsuits.
Mr. Johnson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2005, with a double major in Political Science and History. He was a member of the Dean’s List and was awarded Political Science Departmental Honors.
Mr. Johnson completed his education at the University of California, Davis, School of Law in 2009. During law school Mr. Johnson clerked for a judge in the San Francisco Superior Court, drafting recommended rulings on both discovery and trial matters. In addition, he clerked for the Union Pacific Railroad Company Legal Department in Roseville, where he worked on a wide range of litigation and regulatory issues. After graduation, Mr. Johnson interned with the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, where he gained courtroom experience by arguing various motions.
Mr. Johnson is a northern California native who enjoys the outdoors in his free time, including skiing, golf, fishing, and hiking.
Selected Results
Mr. Johnson won summary judgment in the El Dorado Superior Court on behalf of a school district in a traumatic brain injury case arising from a high school football match.
Mr. Johnson won summary judgment in the Sacramento Superior Court on behalf of a non-profit medical clinic on claims for medical negligence, negligent screening of medical staff, and discrimination under the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Mr. Johnson successfully upheld the judgment on appeal to the California Third District Court of Appeal after briefing the matter and arguing it before a panel of three justices.
Mr. Johnson successfully defended a sustained demurrer to a claim under the Elder Abuse Act before the California Third District Court of Appeal.
After successfully eliminating claims under the Elder Abuse Act against two nephrologists via summary adjudication, Mr. Johnson second-chaired a jury trial in the Sacramento Superior Court in which a defense verdict was returned on the remaining claim for wrongful death.