Daniel A. Johnston
The Willis Law Group
Dan Johnston is an innovative and aggressive attorney with proven success on both sides of personal injury, insurance defense, breach of contract, fraud, complex commercial, and trade secrets litigation. These results have included representing seriously injured plaintiffs, pursuing novel applications of RICO and fraud statutes, representing insurance companies in high-exposure claims, pursuing and defending defamation claims, and more.
Dan now exclusively focuses his practice on Federal RICO work, fraud investigations across industries, high exposure insurance defense work, internal investigations, and bet-the-business commercial litigation.
Dan’s varied background and experience open the door to cost-effective, successful approaches to case resolution both within and beyond the courtroom. Prior to joining Willis Law Group as Partner (and now the firm's youngest Supervising Partner), Dan was Principal Attorney for Johnston Law LLC. In his practice, Dan frequently obtained outsized results for his clients against much larger and well-funded opposition. Dan has also practiced as a criminal prosecutor for Nassau County, and has worked with well-regarded litigation boutiques.
- Business Law
- Business Litigation, Partnership & Shareholder Disputes
- White Collar Crime
- Insurance Defense
- Health Care Law
- New York
- New York State Office of Court Administration
- ID Number: 5314299
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- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
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- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
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- English: Spoken, Written
- Partner
- The Willis Law Group
- - Current
- Partner
- The Bell Law Group
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- Principal Attorney
- Johnston Law LLC
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- State University of New York - Albany
- B.A.
- Honors: Cum Laude
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- The George Washington University Law School
- J.D. (2014)
- Honors: Cum Laude; Winner - 2013 Spanogle International Business Arbitration Competition.
- Activities: Selected to Represent GW Law in the 2014 Vis East International Arbitration Moot Competition in Hong Kong; Mock Trial and Alternative Dispute Resolution Board Member.
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- Top 10 Under 40
- National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys
- Top 10 under 40 Personal Injury attorney in New York
- Top 3 New York Cannabis Attorneys
- WayOfLeaf.com
- Top 40 Under 40 Criminal Defense Trial Attorney
- National Trial Lawyer
- State Bar of New York # 5314299
- Member
- Current
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- American Bar Association
- Member
- Current
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- Nassau County Bar Association
- Member
- Current
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- New York State Bar Association
- Member
- Current
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- New York's Changing Marijuana Laws
- Nassau Lawyer
- Exonerations, NY Marijuana Update, and Handling Police Interactions, Long Island Law Podcast
- LI Law
- What is New York's "Cannabis Act"?, LIPN Podcast
- Long Island Professionals Network
- Trial Academy Graduate
- International Association of Defense Counsel
- Q. I was terminated and given a severance package. two of my former direct reports have gone to social media to harass me
- A: Depends on the contents of the severance agreement, what was specifically said in the social media comments and who they were shared with, and whether what they said was opinion or false facts. There could be a defamation claim here; depending on severance agreement, maybe breach of contract as well. This would need an individualized, fact specific analysis.
- Q. Is it legal for a company to not hire me because I tested positive for marijuana?
- A: While there are some exceptions, it is typically illegal for a company to not hire you in New York based solely on a positive drug test for THC. If that's what they did, and why they did it, and no exceptions apply, you can sue them.
- Q. How do you get a record of “no record” from an arrest that was dismissed? In New York City specifically.
- A: Go to the criminal clerk in the courthouse where the case was located. Request a Certificate of Disposition. They should be able to find it with your name and date of birth; and, if not, they'll give you a "no records" certificate. Should cost you between $5 - $15.
