William V. Johnson, Class of 1966

Acclaimed defense litigator and president of Johnson & Bell

William Johnson co-founded the law firm Johnson & Bell in 1975 and became President in 1979, growing the firm to 120 attorneys and gaining a national reputation. He is an acclaimed litigator who has tried many high-profile catastrophic injury and mass tort cases in Chicago and across the United States.  He has tried nearly every type of civil injury case and has defended many commercial liability, professional liability and trade secrets case. In 2012, he helped win a defense verdict in favor of the University of Chicago Medical Center following a medical negligence trial in which damages exceeding $45 million were sought. For their efforts, Johnson and his team won the Outstanding Defense Verdict Award-Medical Malpractice at the 2012 Jury Verdict Reporter Trial Lawyer Awards. 

Johnson has been included in The Best Lawyers in America since 1989, Who’s Who in American Law since 1987 and the International Who’s Who of Product Liability Defense Lawyers. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers and the American College of Trial Lawyers and is a past president of the Chicago Society of Trial Lawyers.