Thomas Joseph Johnston

Thomas J. Johnston concentrates his practice on the trial of personal injury, including catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death matters. He represents clients throughout the United States.
Johnston has recovered numerous significant verdicts and settlements for his clients, including four verdicts and three settlements against transportation companies in excess of $75 million dollars. In 2016, he obtained a $22.4 million jury verdict against the City of Los Angeles in a wrongful death matter – the largest verdict of its kind in the United States. In 2017, Johnston obtained a $5 million dollar verdict in a wrongful death matter against a property owner for failing to warn of a dangerous condition on a roadway. In 2018, Johnston settled a spinal cord injury case against a major paving contractor for $11 million. In 2018, Johnston also settled the wrongful death case against the Department of Water and Power for $6 million. In 2015, Johnston obtained a $9.5 million recovery for a pedestrian injured by a Los Angeles County bus operator. In 2014, he was co-lead counsel in a significant case that went to the California Courts of Appeal resulting in a landmark decision regarding the duties of landowners who have dangerous conditions on their property.
In 2017, Super Lawyers Magazine ranked Johnston one of the Top 100 lawyers in Southern California. In 2012, Los Angeles Daily Journal named Johnston to its list of the top 20 lawyers in California under the age of 40. Mr. Johnston is also featured in the 21st edition of the publication "The Best Lawyers in America" and was a finalist for the Consumer Attorneys of California's Street Fighter of the Year award in 2011, and a semifinalist for the CAALA Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2016.
Johnston is an officer of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a prominent invitation-only organization, and has spoken on litigation-related topics for professional organizations and educational institutions. Mr. Johnston is also staff instructor at the prestigious Trial Lawyers College.
Johnston served as an intelligence officer for US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 (BN) in Baghdad, Iraq during the Surge Campaign of 2007 and 2008.