The Johnson Law Firm - Passionate and Dedicated Attorneys Providing Excellence in Legal Advice for Over 35 Years

The father and son team of the Johnson Law Firm has been litigating cases ranging from serious injuries involving medical devices and defective consumer products to automobile accidents, as well as complex business disputes for over forty-three (43) years combined. Specifically, the Johnson Law Firm primarily handles product liability cases involving defective medical devices and personal injury cases wherein there is serious injury and/or death.

The father and son tandem of the Johnson Law Firm has also developed a unique niche specialized in the handling of mechanical heart valve cases involving fractures and explants of the Bjork-Shiley Convexo/Concave (BSCC) mechanical valves that were implanted in approximately 86,000 patients in the late 1970s through the year 1987. We have worked for over twenty (20) years on Shiley BSCC mechanical heart valve cases and have amassed millions of pages of Shiley heart valve manufacturing documents, materials and information which we use to help all persons whose lives have been touched by this problem. Some of our former clients, including some attorneys and physicians who have referred clients to our firm, have stated that we are the most knowledgeable attorneys in the world regarding the potential problems with the Bjork-Shiley Convexo/Concave mechanical heart valve and its past history of very serious problems, including its defects.

We have also represented several clients who have had fractures and failures of other types of mechanical heart valves, as well as failures of other types of medical devices implanted in their bodies.

John T. Johnson
Houston, Texas
Founding Partner
Phone Number (713)-751-0070
Fax Number (713)-751-0075
Email: JohnJohnson@jtjpc.com

Download a printable copy of Mr. John Johnson's Curriculum Vitae Here

Before starting the Johnson Law Firm, John T. Johnson started his legal career as a law clerk for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin, Texas 1973 - 1974. (One of the professors at the law school Mr. Johnson attended highly recommended him to the judges of the court for this one-year term, and Mr. Johnson was one of the applicants selected out of a total of 175 applicants who applied.)

After completing his one-year term as a law clerk for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin, Texas, Mr. Johnson was employed by the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Houston, Texas for eight years. During this eight-year time period, Mr. Johnson tried numerous lawsuits involving the defense of the U.S. Government and several of its agencies involving medical malpractice cases, product liability cases, personal injury cases, aircraft crash cases, including cases involving the U.S. Food  Drug Administration. Mr. Johnson also tried two lengthy federal racketeering cases for the U.S. Department of Justice, including numerous other criminal cases brought by the U.S. Justice Department against various individuals and corporations. In May 1980, Mr. Johnson received an award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney for his work as a Federal Prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney General of the United States.

Mr. Johnson was the Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Houston, when he decided in 1982 to go into private practice at a medium size civil litigation law firm in Houston, Texas. While employed at this civil litigation firm from 1982 to 1993, Mr. Johnson handled numerous large civil litigation cases involving product liability, medical malpractice, personal injury, and business litigation cases. Mr. Johnson subsequently became the Managing Director of this medium size law firm. Mr. Johnson became Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in December 1988. In September 1993, Mr. Johnson formed his own law firm in Houston, Texas where he continued to handle product liability cases, personal injury cases, bad faith insurance cases, and business litigation cases.

Mr. Johnson has appeared on the ABC Prime Time television program on November 22, 1990, during which program he was interviewed by Diane Sawyer regarding a medical malpractice case he had tried against the U.S. Government involving the wrongful death of a former U.S. Army soldier.

Mr. Johnson began handling Bjork-Shiley Convexo/Concave mechanical heart valve cases in 1987, when he started representing an engineer who had a risk of fracture Bjork-ShileyConvexo/Concave heart valve implanted in the mitral position of his heart. Mr. Johnson was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal regarding his work on Shiley BSCC heart valve cases and some of his work has been summarized by the Wall Street Journal in an article published on November 7, 1991, written by Mr. William M. Carley, which is entitled Fatal Flaws - Artificial Heart Valves that Fail Are Linked to Falsified Records-Pfizer Unit Evidently Marked Cracked Parts as Repaired When They Hadn't Been-Phantom Welder Is Found. Mr. Johnson has also been interviewed by several other investigative journalists regarding his investigations concerning specific types of manufacturing processes used in the manufacture of Shiley BSCC heart valves. In addition, Mr. Johnson has successfully resolved numerous cases involving outlet strut fractures of Shiley BSCC heart valves, cases involving the injuries received as a result of the fractures and surgical explants of these valves, and cases involving individuals who have had a single leg fracture of their Shiley valve, when the valve could not be explanted due to the risk of serious injury or death to the individual in which the valve was implanted. Many of these prior Shiley BSCC heart valve cases involved U.S. citizens, as well as citizens of the countries of Australia, Norway, Belgium, Poland, Scotland, England, and The Netherlands.

Mr. Johnson was recertified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in August 2008, and he is licensed to practice law by the State Bar of Texas, as well as admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Eleventh Circuit and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.  Mr. Johnson has also appeared on a pro hac vice basis in several State and Federal Courts throughout the United States, such as in Ohio, Kansas, Wyoming, California, Colorado, New York, Louisiana, Minnesota, Florida and various other courts throughout the United States.

Areas of Practice:
Admiralty/Maritime Law
Aviation Accidents - Plaintiff
Bad Faith Insurance
Business Litigation 
Complex Litigation
Construction Law
Consumer Litigation 
Deceptive Trade Practices 
Housing/Construction Defects
Jones Act
Medical Products  Devices
Motor Vehicle Accidents - Plaintiff
Motor Vehicle Defects
Personal Injury - Plaintiff
Pharmaceutical Products
Premises Liability - Plaintiff
Products Liability Law
Property Damage - Plaintiff
Railroad Accidents - Plaintiff
Recreational Products
Unfair Competition
Wrongful Death - Plaintiff

Education:
South Texas College of Law, Houston, Texas, J.D., 1973
Magna Cum Laude 
University of Houston , B.B.A. with honors, 1970

Honors and Awards: 
E.E.Townes Award, Scholastic Excellence
Phil Burleson Best Article Award, Criminal Law
Order of the Lytae, 1973
Comments Editor of the South Texas Law Journal

Professional Associations and Memberships: 
Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, December 1988; recertified August, 2008
State Bar of Texas
The American Trial Lawyers Association 
American Association for Justice

Past Employment Positions: 
Johnson & Dylewski, Houston, Texas, Managing Partner
Calvin, Gibbs, Dylewski, Verner, Maddox,  Johnson, Houston, Texas, formerly Managing Partner
Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Houston, Texas, 1974-1982
Law Clerk to Honorable Wendall Odom, Judge Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,
1973-1974

Yellow Freight Trucking Company, Truck Driver and Dock Worker (Member of Teamsters Union)

Jonathon “ Chad” Johnson
Houston, Texas
Founding Partner
Phone Number (713)-751-0070
Fax Number (713)-751-0075
Email: ChadJohnson@jtjpc.com

Download a printable copy of Mr. Chad Johnson's Curriculum Vitae Here

Since the seventh (7th) grade, Chad Johnson has been assisting his father John in the development and preparation of Shiley mechanical heart valve cases. It was his father's dedication and work ethic that drove Chad to attend law school at his father's alma mater South Texas College of Law where, like his father, Chad also graduated with Honors. Thereafter, Chad attended New York University School of Law, where he earned his Legal Law Masters in Taxation.  As a Partner and Associate at the Johnson Law Firm, Chad strives in achieving justice for his clients as well as promoting judicial equality through the fostering of core values.

Areas of Practice: 
Admiralty/Maritime Law
Aviation Accidents - Plaintiff
Bad Faith Insurance
Business Litigation 
Complex Litigation
Construction Law
Deceptive Trade Practices
Housing/Construction Defects
Jones Act-Maritime Law
Medical Products-Devices
Motor Vehicle Accidents - Plaintiff
Motor Vehicle Defects
Personal Injury - Plaintiff
Pharmaceutical Products
Premises Liability - Plaintiff
Products Liability Law
Property Damage - Plaintiff
Railroad Accidents - Plaintiff
Recreational Products
Wrongful Death - Plaintiff

Education:
New York University, New York, NY. LL.M., Taxation, 2003
South Texas College of Law, Houston, Texas, J.D., 2001
Magna Cum Laude -- University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1997

Honors and Awards: 
Phi Kappa Theta
Order of the Lytae
Langdell Scholars

Professional Associations and Memberships: 
State Bar of Texas
Texas Trial Lawyers Association
American Association of Justice

Janel Dobbins
Houston, Texas
Legal Assistant ( Since 1976 )
E-mail: JDobbins@jtjpc.com

55 Waugh Drive Suite 603 - Houston, Texas 77007 | Phone - 713-751-0070 | Fax - 713-751-0075