CJ Johnson

C.J. Johnson graduated from the University of Colorado (Boulder) in 1995. He attended the University of Montana School of Law, where he served on the Public Land and Resources Law Review and competed on the school’s negotiation and trial teams. After graduating law school in 1999, he clerked for United States Magistrate Judge Richard F. Cebull in Great Falls for one year. He then returned to Missoula, joining the Kalkstein Law Firm in 2000 and becoming a partner in Kalkstein & Johnson (later Kalkstein, Johnson & Dye) in 2005. C.J. worked as an insurance defense lawyer and panel-approved trial counsel for more than fifteen years. Since 2016, he's dedicated his practice efforts to plaintiff's civil claims and cases. In January 2018, C.J. and his wife Malin Stearns Johnson formed Johnson & Johnson Law, PLLC.  

C.J. is a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated attorney and a Mountain States Super Lawyer (2013 through 2020). He has previously worked by appointment as a Special Prosecutor for the Montana Office of Disciplinary Counsel, is a group instructor for the Trial Advocacy Class at the University of Montana School of Law, and has guest-lectured at the School of Law on legal writing, civil procedure, voir dire, opening statements, conflicts of law, and trial experts. C.J. is a member of the Montana Bar Association, Western Montana Bar Association, and Montana Trial Lawyers’ Association. He is admitted to practice in all Montana state and federal courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He's handled numerous appeals to the Montana Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has argued before the Ninth Circuit.