Jeff P. Johnson

Jeff helps clients navigate complex regulatory and litigation challenges with local, state, and federal authorities. His clients benefit from his decade of broad litigation experience, understanding of emerging state and federal regulatory issues, and strong relationships with attorneys general across the U.S. In addition to handling cases from trial through state or federal appeals, Jeff serves as amicus counsel in advancing legal rules to support his clients’ vital interests.

As a former deputy solicitor general in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Jeff provided practical guidance to elected officials facing real-world challenges. He served as lead counsel on high-profile cases, authored amicus briefs for multistate coalitions, and crafted impact litigation. Additionally, he advised on investigations under consumer protection, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and antitrust laws.

Jeff’s experience in commercial and public law spans diverse subject matter, including administrative, product liability, environmental, complex tort, tax, and constitutional law. He regularly handles dispositive and critical motions, examines witnesses, and seeks injunctive relief for clients. Jeff’s appellate work has involved issues such as preemption, due process, the First Amendment (Speech and Religion clauses), the Administrative Procedure Act, the Major Questions doctrine, the Safe Drinking Water Act, qualified immunity, and municipal and state powers. Jeff has argued more than a dozen appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Eighth Circuit and the Supreme Court of Missouri.

• Successfully persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Tenth Circuit’s decision that petitions challenging the denial of state implementation plans of EPA rules under the Clean Air Act must be brought in the D.C. Circuit.
• Successfully challenged the EPA’s Cybersecurity Rule that imposed new legal duties and costs (via memorandum) on all public water systems. After obtaining a preliminary injunction putting the rule on hold, the EPA withdrew the rule in less than seven months.
• Successfully defended the State Corporation Commission’s decision to deny a proposed toll increase in the Supreme Court of Virginia.
• Successfully defended Missouri’s State Senate map from a challenge claiming the map violated new redistricting criteria. The trial court granted motions to end plaintiffs’ improper discovery efforts, and after a trial, it upheld the map adopting defendants’ interpretation of the new constitutional requirements.
• Successfully reversed summary judgment allowing a pretrial detainee who was kept in administrative segregation for 1,288 days without due process to bring his due process claims for violating his rights in the Fourth Circuit.
• Co-authored amicus briefs for a large multistate coalition at the petition and merits stages that resulted in a landmark Second Amendment decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Authored an amicus brief supporting agriculture in a long-running dispute over pesticide use that helped persuade the court of appeals to vacate EPA’s unlawful ban.
• Helped reverse a California trial court decision arising from the construction of a new gas-fired plant between an energy client and a city. The appellate court decision revived the client’s quasi-contractual claims and allowed it to claim restitution.
• Successfully defended various Missouri laws and government actions from novel constitutional challenges, including cases involving the First Amendment, elections, telecommunications, and local government law.
• Argued numerous cases in the federal courts of appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court.