James W. Johnson specializes in complex litigation, with primary emphasis on class actions involving securities fraud.

Mr. Johnson has successfully litigated a number of high profile securities and RICO class actions, including: In re Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Securities Litigation, in which the Court, after approving a settlement of $185 million coupled with significant corporate governance reforms, recognized plaintiffs’ counsel as “extremely skilled and efficient”; In re HealthSouth Corp. Securities Litigation, which resulted in a partial settlement of $445 million; In re Vesta Insurance Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, which resulted in a partial recovery of $78 million for the plaintiff class; and Murphy v. Perelman, which, along with a companion federal action, In re National Health Laboratories, Inc. Securities Litigation, brought by Co-Counsel, resulted in a recovery of $80 million. In County of Suffolk v. Long Island Lightning Co., Mr. Johnson represented the plaintiff in a RICO class action, securing a jury verdict after a two-month trial, which resulted in a $400 million settlement. The Second Circuit, in awarding attorneys’ fees to Plaintiff, quoted the trial judge, Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, as stating “counsel [has] done a superb job [and] tried this case as well as I have ever seen any case tried.”

Mr. Johnson also assisted in prosecuting environmental damage claims on behalf of Native Americans resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Mr. Johnson is the co-author of “RICO: Judiciary Devises New Theories In Effort To Dismiss Civil Suits,” The National Law Journal, Feb. 12, 1990, and “Special Trial Issues In RICO Actions,” Civil RICO 1989, Practicing Law Institute 1989. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, where he served on the Federal Courts Committee.

Mr. Johnson received a B.A. from Fairfield University in 1977 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1980, where he was the recipient of the Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Award.