Johnson, Gary L.

Current Employment Position(s)

Shareholder

Lawyer Overview

Mr. Johnson is a trial lawyer and has been in practice at Richards Brandt Miller Nelson since 1984. He has tried a variety of different cases to juries and the bench at the state and federal level. His practice focuses primarily on insurance coverage/bad faith, ERISA, disputes involving Articles 2 and 9 of the UCC, products liability and the defense of governmental entities. Gary Johnson is actively involved in the management of captive insurers in Utah and Richards Brandt Miller Nelson is an approved captive manager by the Utah Department of Insurance.  He is also currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Utah Defense Lawyers Association. Mr. Johnson maintains an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and was selected for inclusion in 2009, 2010, and 2011 Mountain States Super Lawyers and recognized as one of Utah's Legal Elite in 2010 and 2011.

Areas of Practice

• Insurance Law
• Commercial Transactions
• Litigation

Representative Cases

• Robbins v. Flightstar, Inc., 2011 WL 61189 (D. Utah 2011)
• Essex Ins. Co. v. EdiZONE and ACTI, 2011 WL 1791643 (D. Utah 2011)
• Fort Lane Village, LLC v. Travelers Indemnity Company, 2011 WL 3180487 (D. Utah 2011)
• Wood v. World Wide Assoc. of Specialty Programs and Schools, 2011 WL 3328931 (D. Utah 2011)
• Hills v. United Parcel Service, Inc.,, 232 P.3d 1049 (Utah 2010)
• Essex Ins. Co. v. Wake Up Too, Inc., 2009 WL 357987 (D. Utah 2009)
• Larsen v. Johnston, 327 Fed.Appx. 53 (10th Cir. 2009)
• Williams v. Bench, 193 P.3d 640 (Utah Ct. Appl. 2008)
• United National Ins. Co. v. International Petroleum & Exploration, 2007 WL 4561460 (D. Utah 2007)
• Wood v. World Wide Assoc. of Specialty Programs and Schools, 2007 WL1295994 (D. Utah 2007)
• Quaid v. U.S. Healthcare, Inc., 158 P.3d 525 (Utah 2007)
• Miller v. City of Tooele, 2006 WL 2355770 (D. Utah 2006)
• Coverstar, Inc. v. Cooley, Inc., 2006 WL 1579620 (D. Utah 2006)
• Salt Lake Toyota Dealers Assoc. v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co., 2006 WL 1547996 (D. Utah 2006)
• Stanley v. Life Ins. Co. of North America, 2005 WL 2266596 (D. Utah 2005)
• Sutherland v. Tooele City Corp., 91 Fed. Appx. 632 (10th Cir. 2004)
• Stocks v. U.S. Fidelity and Guar. Co., 3 P.3d 722 (Utah App. 2000)
• Lexington Ins. v. Rugg & Knoop, Inc., 1 F.Supp.2d 937 (E.D. Wis. 1998)
• Gibbs M. Smith v. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Co., 949 P.2d 337 (Utah 1997)
• Oliverson v. West Valley City, 875 F. Supp. 1465 (D. Utah 1995)
• Joos v. Intermountain Health Care, Inc., 25 F.3d 915 (10th Cir. 1994)
• Hunsaker v. State of Utah et al., 870 P.2d 893 (Utah 1993)
• Leahy v. The Bon, Inc., 801 F. Supp. 529 (D. Utah 1992)
• Roberts v. Thorn Apple Valley, Inc., 784 F.Supp. 1538 (D. Utah 1992)
• Hartford Accident and Indem. Corp. v. United States Fid. and Guar. Co., 765 F. Supp. 677 (D. Utah 1991)
• Freund v. Utah Power & Light Co., 793 P.2d 362 (Utah 1990)
• Utah Power & Light Co. v. Federal Ins. Co., et.al., 724 F.Supp. 846 (D. Utah 1989)
• Fashion Place Inv. v. Salt Lake County, 778 P.2d 941 (Utah App. 1989)
• Paz v. Carman Industries, 860 F.2d 977 (10th Cir. 1988)

West Practice Categories

Business & Commercial Law, Insurance Law

Bar Admissions

• Utah, 1984
• U.S. District Court District of Utah, 1984
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin, 1997
• U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1998
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 2000
• U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 1985

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Defense Research Institute
• Utah Defense Lawyers Association (Board of Directors)
• International Association of Defense Counsel
• American Bar Association
• Utah State Bar Association
• Utah State Bar Model Utah Jury Instruction Committee (Member, 1989-1993, 2003-2004, 2007-2008, 2011-)
• Utah State Bar Exam Question Reviewer (2010- Present)
• Federal Bar Association

Pro Bono Activities

• Leadership Committee, And Justice for All, 1999 - 2003
• Trustee of Richards Brandt Miller Nelson Charitable Foundation, 2003 - 2008

Education

• University of Utah College of Law, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1984
  J.D.
• University of Nevada at Reno, Reno, Nevada, 1980
  M.A.
• University of Nevada at Reno, Reno, Nevada, 1976
  B.A.

Accepts Credit Cards

Published Works

• Defining Governmental Function Under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act, 9 Journal of Contemporary Law 193, 1983
• Procedures, Costs and Rate Structures for Decommissioning Nuclear Reactors, 5 Journal of Energy Law & Policy 245, 1984
• It is Time to Revise JIFU, 2 Utah Bar Journal 10, Feb., 1989
• Reflections on the Constitutionality of the Motor Vehicle Seatbelt Act, 6 Utah Bar Journal 20, May, 1993
• Day v. State: An Open Courts Clause Cacophony, 1 Voir Dire, 24, Spring, 1995
• Enforceability of Exculpatory Clauses in Hazardous Recreational Activities, 11 Utah Bar Journal 8, Feb., 1998
• Role, Ritual and Civility in Litigation, 12 Utah Bar Journal 12, April, 1999
• The Salty Soup: Some Thoughts on Access to Civil Justice, 17 Utah Bar Journal 28, May, 2004
• Does an Insured Have to Prove Coverage in Order to Claim Bad Faith Damages?, 28 Utah Trial Journal, Fall 2005
• Looking at the Stars: Why Being a Lawyer Matters, 56 The Federal Lawyer 24 August, 2009
• Commentary: Harry Truman's Lessons for Lawyers, 23 Utah Bar Journal 36 July/August, 2010
• DRI Insurance Bad Faith (chapter on Utah Bad Faith Law), 2010
• The Practical Art: On the Archaeology and Architecture of Liability Insurance Contracts, 78 DEF. COUNS. J. 143, 2011
• The Limits of Rule 34(A): Mirroring the Hard Drive, DRI E-Discovery Connection, Vol 6 No. 2 (Aug. 2011)
• The Contours of Property Coverage: Some Reflections on the Vacancy Clause, LexisNexis Coverage, Volume 21, Number 4, September/October, 2011

Address

Wells Fargo Center
299 South Main Street
15th Floor
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Phones

801-326-2009
888-595-8404

Faxes

801-532-5506

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.rbmn.com