News

Harry S. Johnson Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers in America

Date: September 23, 2013

Baltimore -- Harry S. Johnson has been named a 2014 “Lawyer of the Year in Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants” in Baltimore by The Best Lawyers in America® 2014 (copyright 2013 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken S.C.).

He joins the eight other firm lawyers who were selected as “Lawyers of the Year” in their jurisdictions and areas of practice.  They are:

  • G. Scott Barhight  - 2014 Baltimore Land Use & Zoning Law "Lawyer of the Year."
  • Raymond J. Diaz - 2014 Washington DC Litigation – Real Estate "Lawyer of the Year."
  • Michael E. Hastings - 2014 Roanoke Litigation - Bankruptcy "Lawyer of the Year."
  • Frank S. Jones, Jr.  - 2014 Baltimore Venture Capital Law "Lawyer of the Year."
  • Dana O. Lynch  - 2014 Baltimore Trademark Law "Lawyer of the Year."
  • William F. Ryan, Jr.  - 2014 Baltimore Litigation - Environmental "Lawyer of the Year."
  • Gregory M. Stone  - 2014 Baltimore Litigation - Patent "Lawyer of the Year."
  • Steven E. Tiller -2014 Baltimore Litigation – Intellectual Property "Lawyer of the Year."

Mr. Johnson, who has been recognized as a “Best Lawyer” since 2006, is a Litigation Partner at Whiteford, Taylor and Preston, LLP.  A graduate of UMBC (1976) and the University of Maryland School of Law (1979), he is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bars.  His practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on product liability.  For over 10 years he was one of the principal counsels for Baltimore City in Thompson v. HUD, a federal civil rights action concerning public housing.  He was named one of America's Top Black Lawyers by Black Enterprise Magazine in 2003, and will be honored with the “Whitney Young Service Award” by the Boy Scouts of Central Maryland.

Mr. Johnson served as the first African American President of the Maryland State Bar Association from 2003-2004. He has been a member in the ABA House of Delegates since 2002, and served on the prestigious Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary from 2007-2010. In 2012 he was appointed to the American Bar Association Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, on which he continues to serve.

He currently is Chair of the Board of Directors of GBMC Healthcare.  He also serves on the Boards of the Baltimore Community Foundation (Co-Chair, Race, Equity and Inclusion Committee) and the Office of the Public Defender.  He has previously served on the Boards of the Baltimore County Human Relations Commission (Chair), CenterStage, Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust and the Afro-American Newspapers.  


About Best Lawyers: Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as a definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their specialties, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

About WTP:  The 165 attorneys at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston are dedicated to helping our clients protect and grow their businesses through strategic business and litigation services. We serve our clients in the region, across the nation and around the globe from our base of nine offices in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Delaware, and Michigan.