Steven J. Johnson is Of Counsel in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Palo Alto office, where he is a member of the firm's Litigation Department. He has over twenty-five years of experience in complex business litigation of all types, including internal investigations, securities litigation, commercial litigation, intellectual property disputes, and class actions. Mr. Johnson also has substantial experience defending civil actions alleging fraud, unlawful business practices, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair competition. Mr. Johnson has significant trial and appellate experience, and has tried cases in a variety of courts around the country. He is admitted to practice in all of the California state courts, in the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California, and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Johnson did his undergraduate work at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he received a bachelor's degree with highest honors in 1981. In 1984, Mr. Johnson served as an extern for the Honorable Justice Allen E. Broussard of the California Supreme Court. In 1985, Mr. Johnson graduated magna cum laude from the Santa Clara University School of Law, where he was on the first board of editors for the Santa Clara Computer and High-Technology Law Journal. In addition to his litigation practice, he has served as an adjunct professor of law at the Santa Clara University School of Law and as a judicial arbitrator in Santa Clara County, California.
Representative Matters

Representative matters in which Mr. Johnson has been lead counsel or has shared overall case responsibility include the following:

Representation of Diamond Foods Audit Committee in internal investigation and related SEC investigation regarding accounting for commodity payments.
Representation of Applied Micro Circuits Corporation in litigation alleging breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition relating to the solicitation and hiring of a highly specialized microprocessor design engineering team by a competitor.
Representation of Transamerica in connection with claims of breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition arising out of “lift out” of Transamerica investment management group in San Francisco by a major competitor.
Representation of Intel Corporation in securities litigation brought in the Northern District of California under Section 14(d)(7) of the Williams Act and SEC Rule 14d-10 relating to $1.6 billion acquisition of DSP Communications, Inc. by Intel, and in various other matters, including intellectual property disputes.
Representation of Hewlett-Packard Company in consumer class actions involving alleged defective design of CD recorders and scanners.
Representation of Amazon in securities litigation in the Western District of Washington involving $600 million bond offering.
Representation of Merrill Lynch in securities litigation in the Northern District of California relating to "breakpoint discounts" in sale of mutual funds.
Representation of venture fund in connection with claims by Trustee of bankrupt Internet company.
Representation of MFS Retirement Services, Inc. in litigation involving transfer of retirement funds between two families of mutual funds.
Representation of Marine Terminals in litigation over escrow holdback from sale of four related shipping companies.
Representation of XTRA Corporation in litigation over $2 million breakup fee owed to client as a result of failed acquisition.
Representation of senior executives in litigation concerning merger of worldwide silicon businesses of Mitsubishi and Sumitomo.
Representation of The Hertz Corporation in litigation relating to acquisition of $100 million subsidiary.
Representation of client in successful mediation of $300 million dispute concerning spin-off of semiconductor business.
Defense of $80 million claim for breaches of representations and warranties arising out of sale of a client's subsidiary to its major competitor. Tried case to conclusion in San Francisco and Washington D.C. before a panel comprised of former U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, and former federal district court judges Charles Renfrew and Abraham Sofaer.
Representation of various affiliates of Florida public utility in complex litigation over $100 million power project.
Representation of American Express and other holders of municipal bonds in litigation with project owner.
Representation of Nortel Networks in patent litigation concerning technology for PBX systems, and in litigation concerning distributorship contracts in People's Republic of China.
Representation of public company in Thailand in litigation concerning failed plan to take a group of semiconductor companies from Thailand public on the New York Stock exchange.
Representation of Israeli designer and manufacturer of the largest solar power plants in the world in litigation concerning proposed changes to a complex engineering model used to project the performance of the power plants for purposes of performance guarantee backed by insurance from Lloyds of London.
Representation of Canadian bank in foreclosure proceedings to take back several office buildings and the Civic Center Plaza in Oakland.
Representation of San Jose developer in $100 million CERCLA action involving soil and groundwater contamination found during construction of 800 unit apartment complex in Santa Clara County.
Representation of reference laboratory in trial in San Francisco County Superior Court regarding alleged lab error leading to misdiagnosis of AIDS.
Representation of manufacturer in trade secret litigation concerning alleged misappropriation of designs for stents used in heart surgery.
Representation of bio-technology company in trade secret litigation concerning technology used in DNA sequencing.
Representation of sellers in litigation over escrow holdback from proceeds of $20 million sale of privately held company.
Representation of public company in complex partnership litigation in Santa Clara County over $16 million purchase of the stock of corporate general partner.
Representation of limited partner in complex business litigation concerning alleged fraud by general partner in management of wind power project in Alameda County, California.
Numerous trials in state and federal courts, numerous binding and non-binding arbitrations, and significant appellate experience. Further details provided upon request.