News & Insights

National Law Journal Recognizes Lightfoot Partner Johnny Johnson as a 2017 ‘Energy & Environmental Trailblazer’

June 5, 2017

Lightfoot, Franklin & White, LLC founding partner Johnny Johnson  has been named a National Law Journal Energy & Environmental Trailblazer for 2017.

Each year, the publication recognizes lawyers who have had a career-long impact in energy and environmental law. After extensive vetting and interviewing, the National Law Journal selected a handful of attorneys out of hundreds of nominations.

Johnson is profiled alongside the other honorees in the June 6 issue.

“Johnny is a pioneer in environmental litigation and has laid the foundation for the future of environmental law,” said Lightfoot managing partner Wynn Shuford. “Today he is widely recognized as one of the most qualified and practiced lawyers in this area and is certainly deserving of this honor.”

Johnson was one of the first lawyers in the Southeast to focus on environmental litigation. For decades, his book, The Pesticide Litigation Manual, has been a go-to reference for defense and plaintiffs’ lawyers across the country handling environmental cases. It is still in print today as Defending Pesticides in Litigation.

When the firm was founded, Johnson handled all of Monsanto’s pesticide cases in the Southeast — setting precedents that shaped future litigation around the country. He was also the lead lawyer for the state of Alabama in its groundbreaking and headline-grabbing water rights dispute with Georgia, State of Alabama v. United States Army Corps of Engineers. His efforts led to an historic agreement between Alabama, Georgia and Florida to study and manage their shared water resources.