Of Counsel, Washington DC
1900 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006-1108

TEL: 202.496.7187
FAX: 202.496.7756
EMAIL: dojohnson@mckennalong.com

PROFILE

Donald O. Johnson focuses on insurance coverage and other commercial litigation in McKenna Long & Aldridge's Washington, D.C. office. He has been involved in cases in state and federal courts. He has represented clients in insurance coverage matters involving commercial property, commercial general liability, directors and officers, errors and omissions, umbrella, and excess liability policies. In the property insurance area, he has extensive experience with catastrophic physical loss or damage issues and associated business interruption and extra expense issues, gained in part through his work on a $1.7 billion claim related to the World Trade Center disaster and multiple hurricane damage claims. His other commercial litigation experience includes representing one of the country's major rubber manufacturers in a complex trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement case.

In addition to his Juris Doctor degree, Don has a Master's Degree in Trial Advocacy. He also is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, an international honor society for business school graduates, and has been awarded the professional insurance designation Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU). The CPCU designation acknowledges his having passed various national examinations concerning insurance industry subjects, ranging from property, casualty, and personal insurance claims to insurance-industry finance, accounting, operations, and regulation.

Don is a Director of the DC Chapter of the CPCU Society and is a member of the Society's Diversity Committee. He also is a member of the National African-American Insurance Association and is on the Executive Committee of the National Bar Association's Commercial Law Section. He has been the principal editor of the Section's newsletter -- the Commercial Law Connection -- since 2004. In 2004, the Section awarded him its Section Member of the Year Award. Don also is an associate member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Don is fluent in Spanish and has studied Portuguese. He earned a university certificate in Latin American studies, was awarded an international law scholarship at the University of Miami School of Law, and has traveled extensively in Central and South America and in the Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean. He has worked on cases in which the primary witnesses did not speak English and in which extensive document translation was required.

Prior to joining McKenna Long & Aldridge, Don worked as a computer programmer and computer systems analyst for Eastern Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Electronic Data Systems Corporation. He has used that experience to, among other things, assist clients with the complex job of producing email records and other electronic data during the discovery process.

Recent Awards

In November 2007, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless recognized Don and his litigation team at McKenna Long & Aldridge with a special pro bono award for their work in challenging a landlord’s conversion of an apartment building into condominiums, which prevented the unwarranted eviction of eight low-income tenants that he and his colleagues represented.

Recent Publications

A Business Case for Diversity at the CPCU Society - Minority Corporate Counsel Association Website (2008)

Mississippi AG Challenges the Flood Exclusion - NBA Commercial Law Section Newsletter (2006)

Property Damage and Business Interruption Coverage - NBACLS Corporate Counsel Conference (2005)

What Every Commercial Law Lawyer Needs to Know About Notice of Claim - NBACLS Newsletter (2004)

Recent Lectures

New Maryland Administrative Approach to Claims Resolution - MLA Bad Faith Symposium (2007)

Deposition Preparation for Insurance Professionals - CPCU Society Chapters (2007)

Litigation Strategies and Tactics - NBACLS Corporate Counsel Conference (2007)

Property Damage and Business Interruption Coverage - NBACLS Corporate Counsel Conference (2005)

Business Interruption Coverage - Mealey's Business Interruption Insurance Conference (2004)