Michael W. Johnston
Georgia
King & Spalding LLP
1180 Peachtree Street, NE
Suite 1600
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel: +1 404 572 3581
Email:
mjohnston@kslaw.com
Web:
www.kslaw.com
Michael Johnston focuses on employment litigation and employment-related internal investigations. Michael is the senior partner in our Labor and Employment Litigation practice, which was recognized by Law360 as one of its Employment Practices of the Year in 2017. With over 40 years of litigation experience, Michael has been lead counsel in over 130 trials and has represented clients in trial and appellate courts nationwide and in the United States Supreme Court.
Michael has been rated by Chambers USA in Tier 1 for Labor and Employment Litigation for more than 10 consecutive years, was identified by the National Law Journal in 2019 as a Trailblazer in employment Litigation, named a 2017 Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation and as a Law360 National MVP for Employment Litigation in 2014.
Michael represents clients in all aspects of employment litigation, with special emphasis on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission systemic discrimination lawsuits and investigations. He has defended complex class action and multi-plaintiff employment cases throughout the U.S.
A former prosecutor, Michael coordinates and directs internal investigations of sexual and racial harassment, alleged violations of the whistleblower retaliation provisions of the False Claims Act, Sarbanes-Oxley and other federal and state employment-related statutes.
In addition, Michael has extensive experience in the litigation of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, trade secret laws, employment agreements and state tort law.
Employment discrimination class and collective actions, nationwide government enforcement actions and disputes with senior officers threaten the finances of the company, its brand and the reputations of its officers, directors and employees. Our trial lawyers represent companies in a broad array of industries in high profile lawsuits and government investigations.
Our employment and appellate lawyers secured a victory in the Supreme Court in a case that has been recognized as one of the most import employment law decisions in recent years. The senior in-house employment lawyer of a major multinational company recently described Michael Johnston as “one of the best, most experienced employment trial lawyers in the country.”
The success of most companies today rests heavily on their trade secrets and confidential information. Yet, purloining that information is easier than ever before. Our employment team includes a number of lawyers with wide-ranging experience drafting and enforcing, through litigation if necessary, agreements to protect trade secrets and confidential information.
“Michael offers sage guidance on complex employment matters.” “He is incredibly smart, very responsive and he really values his relationship with the client.”