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Frederick T. Johnson
Partner
Overview
Fred Johnson is a trial attorney with more than 30 years of experience litigating and trying cases to juries, judges, and arbitrators. He has represented clients as first chair trial attorney in more than 25 jury and bench trials, as lead counsel in contested matters seeking injunctive relief, in arbitrations and mediations. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of matters. Fred has spent most of his career litigating commercial cases involving businesses and individuals in a variety of areas.
He has significant experience handling cases involving fiduciary duties, employment contracts, trade secrets, and non-compete agreements. He has handled and tried cases involving the construction industry, manufacturing, employment discrimination and wrongful termination, EEOC and OSHA investigations, legal malpractice, insurance coverage disputes, trust agreements, and products liability, among others. He also handles matters seeking temporary restraining orders and injunctions.
During his career, he has handled cases in Texas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, and Utah. He has represented clients before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Texas Workforce Commission. Fred has also provided counseling and training for clients in the areas of employment / Title VII issues and litigation issues such as contribution and indemnity in Texas.
Credentials
Education
- South Texas College of Law, 1992 (J.D.)
- Stephen F. Austin State University, 1986 (B.A.)
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Successfully defeated motions for summary judgment filed by defendants on every cause of action and motions to continue the trial. As a result, the case settled favorably at mediation less than two weeks before trial.
- Represented a nationwide trucking firm in a jury trial over insurance coverage after the company’s excess insurer denied coverage for a verdict in an underlying lawsuit tried by another firm. When the jury in the underlying case awarded more than $12 million to two plaintiffs, the client sought insurance coverage but was denied by one of its excess carriers. Fred successfully convinced a Missouri jury that the insurance company wrongly denied coverage under its excess policy that provided $3 million in coverage available to satisfy the verdict.
- Represented a startup company and two of its employees in defense of claims asserting misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of non-competition agreements.
- Represented a pipeline construction company in various employment lawsuits alleging violations of Title VII and the Civil Rights Act by former employees. To date, Fred has represented the company in multiple employment related cases and has obtained favorable settlements in each case.
- Represented homeowners in litigation against their builders, geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, and subcontractors for failure to investigate, design, and construct the homeowners’ multimillion dollar homes. Both cases involved multiple defendants, competing claims, technical experts, and detailed analysis of the construction projects from inception to completion. After prolonged litigation, summary judgments, and multiple fact and expert depositions, both cases settled favorably for the homeowners.
- Represented a geotechnical engineering firm in various matters related to the company’s work performing geotechnical investigations for energy companies, municipalities, and others.
- Represented a Columbus, Ohio-based biotech startup in a dispute in Salt Lake City federal court against a large multi-national company over allegations of theft of trade secrets and breach of material transfer agreement. The case included managing 16 experts in complex scientific and legal subject areas and more than 50 depositions around the U.S. The parties reached an eight-figure settlement agreement prior to trial.
- Represented a former employee alleging breach of a purchase and sale agreement against the larger competitor company that acquired his smaller insurance brokerage. After a five-day hearing, the arbitration panel awarded his client $1.4 million in damages and attorneys’ fees.
- Represented a high-net worth client in a dispute with lawyers and advisors for mishandling a multi-million-dollar trust agreement that threatened to remove his client as the sole primary beneficiary of the trust.
- Represented a family-owned Texas industrial valve manufacturing company in various matters including a multi-million-dollar dispute with a fabrication company over a construction contract for the fabrication of custom engineered modular process units for an Indian company building a major refinery; various employment related disputes with former employees; and a dispute against two former employees and a competitor for theft of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty.
- Represented a property owner in a dispute with a general contractor for massive cost overruns involving restoration and renovation of the client’s Aspen, Colorado, home. The case was settled favorably during jury selection in Pitkin County, Colorado.
- Represented a real estate development company against its insurance company and insurance broker for breach of contract and breach of the duty to defend and indemnify the client in an underlying case despite coverage afforded under the terms and conditions of the general liability policy. The parties reached a favorable settlement that paid the client the full value of his damages.
- Represented a Houston-based seismic company in a lawsuit against its former outside counsel for breach of fiduciary duty and legal malpractice arising out of a conspiracy to defraud the company into paying a personal settlement for the company’s then-CEO in an unrelated domestic dispute. The parties reached a favorable settlement for the company prior to trial.
- Represented the development arm of a publicly traded real estate investment trust in litigation against a former employee and vendor for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, fraud, and conspiracy. After a two-week trial in superior court in Orange County, California, while the jury deliberated, the parties reached a fully secured settlement that paid the client its actual damages.
- Represented a real estate development company asserting claims against an environmental consulting firm alleging negligent investigation of environmental conditions on the site of property the client sought to purchase. Shortly before trial, the parties reached a favorable seven-figure settlement that ensured the client could remediate the site and recover lost profits on the proposed business venture.
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV Rated
- ABOTA Foundation, Fellow
- Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
- American Board of Trial Advocates