Mark A. Johnson
Mark Johnson has experience in a broad range of complex class action litigation and has witnessed over the past several years the rapid development of class actions and their significant economic consequences to businesses. Once certified as a class action, even a relatively small case can become a massive undertaking for any business to defend, not only because of the risks of an adverse result, but also because of the costs of defense and personnel time assisting in that defense. Selection of counsel experienced in class actions, who can aggressively defend the critical question of whether to certify a class action, is an important decision for a business to make.
While he has defended class actions for a variety of businesses, Mr. Johnson has developed broad-ranging experience in defending insurance companies in several significant statewide and nationwide class actions, some of which included millions of class members. He has defended insurers in class actions on such issues as motor vehicle property damage estimating practices, motor vehicle diminution in value, the manner in which uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance coverage is offered and sold, uninsured motorist property damage coverage, the calculation of homeowners' loss claims, interest on settlement of claims, bodily injury estimating software, motor vehicle total loss claims and total loss valuation methods, salvage titles, workers' compensation insurance premiums and hail loss claims. Since 1998, Mr. Johnson has served as retained counsel for the largest personal lines property and casualty insurer in the United States, defending several putative class actions in courts throughout the United States.
Mr. Johnson's class action experience extends beyond the defense of the insurance industry. He has defended businesses in class actions involving recovery of residential security deposits, terminated employee benefits and retiree healthcare benefits, motor carrier leasing regulations, and Equal Credit Opportunity Act claims. Mr. Johnson has also successfully defended insurance broker defendants in seven national class actions involving shipping insurance fees that were consolidated before the Southern District of New York by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
In 1995, he was one of the lead attorneys who successfully defeated certification in class actions brought on behalf of thousands of residents against a multinational petrochemical company in southeast Ohio as a result of an explosion at a chemical plant. Mr. Johnson was also part of the lead defense team of another major chemical company in a class action in Lorain County, Ohio, arising from an explosion at a chemical plant, resulting in the successful negotiation of a complex, claims made, multimillion-dollar settlement with the certified class of more than 10,000 neighboring residents alleging personal injury, property damage, real property diminution in value and evacuation claims. Mr. Johnson was also part of a team defending a FORTUNE 50 company in consolidated class actions asserting securities fraud and ERISA claims pending in federal court.
Through his broad and extensive class action litigation experience, Mr. Johnson works directly with clients to develop an effective, hands-on strategy to attack class certification. When faced with a certified class, he has the experience and resources available to efficiently use technology to manage the huge quantities of data typically involved in class actions, whether through databases that render complex data understandable or through presentation programs to the judicial decision maker.
Mr. Johnson has received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.