Marc Johnston has been an Oregon Trial Lawyer since 2005. He is the owner of the Johnston Law Firm, located in Portland, OR. For the last 14 years, Johnston Law Firm has been specializing in handling catastrophic personal injury claims, trucking cases, pedestrian and bicycle injury cases, workplace injury cases and wrongful death cases.
Marc has been listed as a Super Lawyer for more than a decade and is typically listed as a Top 50 Super Lawyer in the State of Oregon across all practice areas. Marc has attained an AV Rating from Martindale Hubble for legal ability and ethics, is listed in Best Trial Lawyers in America, is listed by The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers and is a graduate of the Keenan Trial Institute.
Marc received OTLA’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2020, after spearheading OTLA’s state-wide effort to help victims of Oregon’s historic 2020 fires. Marc believes that when you take care of your clients, and your team, everything else falls into place. At Marc’s core is the belief in practicing transformative law—the belief that trial lawyers and their staff teams make society safer and better with every verdict, settlement and changed policy due to impactful cases.
Mr. Johnston graduated cum laude from the Gonzaga University School of Law, where he participated in the following activities and received the following honors:
- Executive Editor - Gonzaga Journal of International Law.
- National Legal Writing Competition Winner (unanimous selection) - Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of ABA.
- National Moot Court Team Member 2003-05 (Trained by current WA Supreme Court Justice).
- Presented Moot Court Oral Arguments in front of Washington Supreme Court (twice), Montana and Washington Federal District Courts, and Washington State Court of Appeals (twice).
- National Student Director of the ABA's National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC).
- Gonzaga Moot Court Honor Council 2003-05.
Areas of Practice
- Motor Vehicle Accidents - Plaintiff
- Trucking Accidents
- Pedestrian & Bicycle Accidents
- Personal Injury
- Workplace Injury
- Wrongful Death
Education
Gonzaga University School of Law, Spokane, Washington
J.D. - 2005
Eastern Washington University
B.A. - 2000
Major: Business Management/Marketing
Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington
Published Works
- Case Note, Bailey v. Lewis Farms: Cause of Action Against Prior Owner of Automobile for Failure to Maintain Marc Johnston (October 2007)., Marc Johnston, October , 2007
- The Supreme Court's New Take on Punitive Damages in State Farm v. Cambell: Criticism and Strategies for Plaintiffs' Lawyers Navigating the New Rules, Marc A. Johnston, 39 TORT TRIAL AND INSURANCE PRACTICE L.J., 1093 (2004) (winner of Tort Trial Insurance Practice Section national writing competition).
- The Illusion of Insurance, Client Briefing and Newsletter, Parsons Farnell & Grein, (Summer 2006).
Representative Cases
- Sierra Pacific Investment Corp. v. Unigard. Represented insurer in complex, multi-party environmental contamination litigation, negotiating multiple settlement agreements on behalf of insurer.
- Panco v. Air Control, Inc. Represented contractor seeking insurance coverage for construction defect claims, and defended the underlying construction defect claims filed against contractor.
- Mani v. Yarpezeshkan and Laffer. Represented multiple physicians in multi-million-dollar business fraud case which settled immediately before the reading of the jury verdict.
- VanDehey v. Allstate. Represent insured client in appeal to the Ninth Circuit regarding an insurance coverage dispute over the interpretation of the insurance policy.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Oregon LRAP (Law School Loan Repayment Assistance Program), Representative, 2010 - Present
- Oregon State Bar Mentoring Taskforce, 2010 – Present
- Oregon New Lawyers Division, Chair, Member Services Committee, 2006 - 2009
- Oregon New Lawyers Division, Board Member, 2009 - Present
- Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, Member, 2009 - Present
- Gonzaga Alumni Committee, Sports Director of Portland Chapter, 2006 - Present
- American Bar Association, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section and Business Law Section, 2003 - Present
Past Employment Positions
- Johnston Law Firm, Managing Attorney, October 1, 2009 - Present
- Hiefield Foster and Glascock, Attorney, July 1, 2009 - October 1, 2009
- Prange Law Group, Attorney, September 1, 2006 - July 1, 2009
- Parsons Farnell & Grein, Oregon, 2005 - 2006
- Thorsnes, Bartolotta & McGuire, San Diego, California
- Washington State Legislature, Legislative Assistant to Representatives Jeff Gombosky & Alex Wood, June 1, 2000 - September 1, 2001
Marc is an avid fisherman and rafting enthusiast; he enjoys exploring every inch of Oregon in pursuit of both. Marc grew up playing on championship basketball and baseball teams and is a college basketball fan.
