Mr. Johnston is a partner with Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman LLP. Mr. Johnston specializes in corporate reorganization and commercial bankruptcy matters, including both debtor and creditor representation.

Mr. Johnston was a lead attorney in the group that represented the County of Orange in its chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy case, and subsequently has represented a number of debtors in chapter 11 proceedings, including Kenetech Windpower, Inc., Barry’s Jewelers, Inc., SmarTalk TeleServices, Inc., WestStar Cinemas, Inc., and Komag, Inc. Mr. Johnston also served as reorganization counsel to the City of Desert Hot Springs, California, the first California city to reorganize under chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code, and as counsel to the chapter 7 trustee for Brobeck, Phelger & Harrison LLP in one of the largest law firm insolvency proceedings.

Mr. Johnston also has represented creditors, creditor groups, and indenture trustees in chapter 11 cases and out-of-court workouts across the county, including Official Committees of Unsecured Creditors in chapter 11 proceedings involving RBX Corporation and SpectraSite Holdings, Inc., a member of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Calpine Corporation, ad hoc committees of bondholders of Adelphia Communications, Ashanti Goldfields, and the City of Klamath Falls, and indenture trustees in the United Air Lines, Delta Airlines, and Northwest Airlines bankruptcy cases.

Mr. Johnston has an active appellate practice and has argued appeals before the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, and numerous District Courts.

Education
University of Southern California Law Center, J.D., 1993; Order of the Coif; Malcomb Lucas Award (highest first-year GPA); Gerald G. Kelly Award (highest second-year GPA), Alfred J. Mellenthin Award (highest GPA through second year); and Scribes Award (legal writing); Managing Editor, University of Southern California Law Review
University of Southern California, M.A., Communication Management, 1993
Stanford University, A.B., Economics and Communications, 1990

Professional Activities
Admitted: California
Law Clerk, Hon. Cynthia Holcomb Hall, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1993-1994

Articles and Publications:
Co-author, “Your Bond Issuer Has Filed For Bankruptcy? A Survey Of The Trips, Traps, And Opportunities That Await Corporate Bondholders In A Chapter 11 Case,” Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (forthcoming Summer 2008)
Co-author, “State Defiance of Bankruptcy Law,” 52 Vand. L. Rev. 1528 (1999)
Author, “The Inequitable Machinations of Section 362(a)(3): Rethinking Bankruptcy’s Automatic Stay Over Intangible Property Rights,” 66 S. Cal. L. Rev. 659 (1992)
Co-author, “Introduction: In the Matter of Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler: A Symposium on Government Regulations, Lawyers’ Ethics, and the Rule of Law,” 66 S. Cal. L. Rev. 977 (1993)
Co-author, “Privileges in Bankruptcy,” presented at the New York University Workshop on Bankruptcy & Business Reorganization (1993)
Panelist, Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum programs: “Bankruptcy and Intellectual Property” (2003), “Bankruptcy Courts versus the States” (2000), and “Matters of Privilege” (1999); San Francisco Bar Association program "Chapter 9 - 101" (2007).

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