Home

John Michael Johnston

Attorney & Counselor

Focus on Insurance Law and Cases: John Michael (Mike) Johnston, is a civil trial lawyer who practices general commercial litigation in the areas of insurance law and practice, insurance coverages, and insurance bad faith cases. His litigation experience in those areas covers a wide range of topics including Captive Insurance disputes, Errors and Omissions claims, Director’s and Officer’s claims, construction law disputes, reinsurance disputes, personal and property damage claims, legal cases arising from disputes regarding trusts and wills, contested equine mortality claims, and contested bovine Brucellosis claims.

Additional Areas of Practice: Mike has also litigated defamation cases, illegal technology export cases, terrorism cases, construction law cases, business disputes, legal and medical malpractice cases, as well as cases involving industrial espionage and contested Freedom of Information Act matters. Mike has obtained a number of multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements in jury cases.

How to Contact him: Mike has been associated with a number of excellent and notable attorneys over the years in a variety of law firms and partnerships but he currently practices in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as the Law Office of John Michael Johnston 228 Kerr Ave. Suite 620, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102 (405) 235-4074; johnstonlaw@coxinet.net.

Educational Background: Mike earned his Juris Doctor degree, with honors (Order of the Coif) from the University of Oklahoma in 1974.

Practice Admissions: Mike is admitted to Practice in the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, in the Western and Northern Federal District Courts of Oklahoma, in the US. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the 10th Circuit, and the D.C. Circuit Court of appeal; and he is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Mike has actively appeared in litigation matters in Oklahoma, Texas, New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, Kansas, Washington State, Washington D.C. (District of Colombia), and in the United States Supreme Court.

Recent Publications: Mike has recently (January 2018) been published by Captive Review in an article entitled “Practical Concerns for 831(b) Captive Owners Post Avrahami”.

Background and History in the Captive Insurance Arena: Mike has had a significant exposure to the history of the Captive Insurance industry. He attended Shorex conventions abroad on that issue as early as 1997, as well as participated in organizational meetings for Captives in Ireland in the late 1990’s. Mike has spoken at several Insurance seminars both off-shore and state-side during the intervening years as the Captive Insurance industry took off and exploded. During the past decade he has been involved as an attorney or as a litigation consultant in major Captive Insurance cases from coast to coast.

Previous Publications and Involvements: Previously Mike was an investigative contributor to a 2001 publication entitled the “Final Report” which dealt with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in April of 1995. Mike also drafted the original Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions regarding the issues of “civil conspiracy” and “circumstantial evidence”. On occasion, Mike has appeared as a witness on behalf of the Oklahoma Bar Association in disciplinary matters involving other lawyers and has been a voluntary grand jury witness on behalf of the United States Customs Service in criminal investigations. Mike also once provided evidence to the Hogan task force in Washington D.C. in regard to the illegal arming of Iraq.

Interviews: During his career, Mike has been interviewed for an on-air broadcast in January 1991 by the Tom Brokaw syndicated program “Expose” concerning illegal technology acquisition and chemical weapons procurement efforts made by Iraq prior to the Gulf War. Mike was interviewed on camera in London at the Royal Geography Society by Tim Kelsey for a 1994 FRONTLINE broadcast which appeared on British Independent Television as a documentary regarding clandestine activities in Britain when Libya was attempting to develop chemical and nuclear weapon capabilities under Quaddafi . Mike was also interviewed on camera in April 2005 in New York by investigative journalist Rita Cosby of Fox News in connection with a Fox investigation of a possible Middle Eastern connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing.

Successful Appellate History: Mike has also had a successful track record in appellate work in both federal and state appeals and has won appeals in Insurance cases, in Age Discrimination cases, in Defamation cases (including defeating a Certiorari attempt made in the United States Supreme Court against Mike’s client by a former deputy director of the FBI) , in tortious Interference cases against an Insurance Company, in a constitutional question appeal regarding unconstitutional actions by a trial judge, and in a sexual harassment case.