Scott Wayne Johnson

Born and raised in Spokane, Scott is a true Eastern Washingtonian. Scott attended high school at Gonzaga Prep where he was a student body officer and national debate champion. After graduating Gonzaga Prep in 1990, Scott attended Pacific Lutheran University, graduating in 1994 with a double major in history and political science. From Pacific Lutheran, Scott moved east, and attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, in Baltimore, Maryland. At the University of Baltimore, Scott was one of an 8-member mock trial that advanced to the national finals in 1996 and 1997. Scott graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1997.

During law school, Scott had the privilege to work as an intern for Federal Judge Marvin Garbis, of United States District Court for the District of Maryland, as a legal intern for the Maryland law firm Reese and Carney, and as a legal intern for the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office in Kennewick.

After graduating from the University of Baltimore, Scott was happy to return home to Eastern Washington, and honored to accept a position as a deputy prosecutor with the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office in 1997. Scott worked in District Court, Juvenile Court, where he was promoted to Chief Juvenile Court Deputy, and Superior Court, where he was further promoted to Chief Deputy of the criminal division. Scott prosecuted criminal cases ranging from DUI, to livestock rustling, to complex white collar theft, kidnapping, rape, and murder. Scott has argued extensively in Division III of the Washington State Court of Appeals and has argued before the Washington State Supreme Court. After over 12 years of public service at the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office, Scott left the office in 2009 to go into private practice.

In 2009, Scott joined Sal Mendoza Jr. and Shawn Sant at the Mendoza Law Office. After Shawn was elected Franklin County Prosecutor, Scott became partners with Sal Mendoza and the two formed Mendoza & Johnson in 2011. Sal then became a Benton County Superior Court Judge and later a United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Washington. Scott then became law partners with Mia Mendoza. Scott handled all levels of criminal cases and select civil litigation at Mendoza and Johnson.

In October of 2015, Scott was presented with an opportunity to start his own firm. Seeing a need in the Eastern Washington legal community for highly skilled attorney services with rapid crisis response, and without layers of bureaucracy separating the client and lawyer, Scott formed the law firm of Johnson and Orr, with partner Deric Orr. Scott and Deric have been able to implement their philosophy of offering client’s rapid crisis response from highly skilled attorneys that client’s actually have access to.

Scott has tried over 200 jury trials and countless bench trials. Scott's cases have been featured by local, regonal, national, and international press outlets.  Scott has had significant success in having clients found not guilty in extremely serious cases. Scott has also been able to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in awards and settlements for his civil clients.