Michael Johnston

has more than thirty-three years’ experience as a trial lawyer and has been lead counsel in over 125 trials, the majority of which were jury trials. Mr. Johnston, a member of the bars of both Florida and Georgia, focuses his practice on employment litigation and counseling, including matters involving non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, trade secret laws, federal and state discrimination laws, Sarbanes-Oxley and other whistleblower statutes, wage and overtime statutes, the WARN Act, ERISA, employment agreements, and state tort law. Mr. Johnston has defended complex class action and multi-plaintiff employment cases in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, has noted that Mr. Johnston is “bright, determined and a go-to name for any employment law issue” and quoted a client as saying Mr. Johnston is “an employment lawyer of striking intelligence and experience, clearly at the top of his game.” U.S. News and World Report also quoted a client as describing Mr. Johnston as “one of the best, most experienced employment trial lawyers in the country. His excellent skills coupled with the laudable support always provided by his colleagues makes him and King & Spalding an especially attractive firm in any matter, but especially high stakes litigation.”

Mr. Johnston is a former prosecutor who now coordinates and directs internal investigations for companies accused of violations of the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, Sarbanes-Oxley and other employment-related statutes, as well as the investigation of employment irregularities, such as sexual and racial harassment.

Mr. Johnston graduated from the United States Air Force Academy (with academic distinction) in 1975, and received his J.D., with highest honors, from the University of Florida in 1980. Mr. Johnston also earned an LL.M. in labor law from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1986.