Neville L. Johnson
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Senior Partner[email protected] |
Professional Experience |
Neville L. Johnson is the Senior Partner and co-founder of Johnson & Johnson LLP. He has spent nearly 50 years as a talent-side litigator in the entertainment industry, recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for artists and strengthening privacy law for all Californians. |
Professional Experience
A Phi Beta Kappa alumnus of UC Berkeley, Mr. Johnson received his law degree from Southwestern Law School in 1975, graduating near the top of his class. He started his career working for Yoko Ono on matters related to the Beatles' catalog and quickly made a name for himself as (per The Los Angeles Times) "one of the most feared litigators in Hollywood" who "wrangled more than $350 million for actors, writers and other clients he contends were shortchanged their fair share of royalties and profits." Now designated a "Legal Legend" by The Hollywood Reporter and a Top 100 attorney by Super Lawyers, Mr. Johnson continues to oversee all matters at Johnson & Johnson in service of his career-long mission to protect and champion artists in the entertainment industry.
As a writer and musician himself, Mr. Johnson litigates with unrivaled passion for the rights of creators, whether he is pursuing a copyright infringement case against reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny or a profit participation case on behalf of Sylvester Stallone. He additionally specializes in the realm of defamation and privacy torts, being one of the only attorneys to ever successfully litigate an invasion of privacy claim in the entertainment industry all the way to the California Supreme Court. Mr. Johnson has collectively resolved hundreds of disputes in the field and obtained numerous published court decisions protecting the rights of individuals against unscrupulous investigatory tactics by media defendants, leading privacy torts scholar David A. Elder to inscribe the following dedication in his seminal Privacy Torts treatise:
"To Neville L. Johnson… who has led the charge, often successfully (and always creatively and with great passion) in exposing some of the worst outrages of media newsgathering. Neville ranks with Brandeis and Warren as the great defenders of privacy. All America is in his debt."
At the intersection of Mr. Johnson's zeal for protecting both entertainers and privacy rights is Johnson & Johnson's robust right of publicity practice, which safeguards individuals from having their personas (including name, image, likeness, voice, and signature) misappropriated for third party purposes. Mr. Johnson has litigated numerous such cases to seven-figure jury vedicts and otherwise collected tens of millions of dollars in confidential settlement of such claims.
In addition to his courthouse success, Mr. Johnson's legal prowess has been repeatedly recognized by his peers in a variety of capacities:
- Mr. Johnson was nominated by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles for Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2005 and simultaneously elevated to the organization's Board of Governors, the only entertainment attorney to attain such a distinction.
- Mr. Johnson sits on the Board of Governors for Public Justice and Planning Committee for USC's Entertainment Law Institute, twice sat on the Board of Governors for the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and maintains active membership in the invitation-only American Board of Trial Advocates and Los Angeles Copyright Society.
- Mr. Johnson serves as an adjunct professor of entertainment and media litigation at Southwestern Law School, where he teaches an annual intersession course with his litigation partner Douglas L. Johnson.
- Mr. Johnson regularly speaks on educational panels concerning a wide range of legal topics affecting the entertainment industry, and pens quarterly articles for the New York State Bar Association's Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal (amongst many other publications).
Mr. Johnson has appeared in courts in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. He is a member of the California Bar and the United States Supreme Court Bar.
Representative Matters
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Honors
Legend Legend
(2020)
Alumnus of the Year
(2020)
Media Coverage
“Lawyer Up”
(Sept. 9, 2019)
Speaking Engagements
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Since 2012, Mr. Johnson has co-instructed a course on entertainment and media litigation as Adjunct Professors at Southwestern School of Law.
From 2011-2014, Mr. Johnson was one of the panelists teaching the Los Angeles County Bar Association new admittees course on class actions.
Since 2011, Mr. Johnson has moderated the panel on ethical issues for the annual Year in Review for the Entertainment Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association.
Professional Associations
(Planning Board, 2011-Present)
(Board of Governors, 2005-Present)
(Board of Governors, 2011-Present)
(Co-Chair of the Board, 2009-Present)
(Voting Member)
(Fmr. Entertainment Section Co-Chair, 2009-2011)
(Fmr. Board of Governors, 2012-2015, 2020-222)
Sample Publications
2019
“Defamation and Invasion of Privacy in the Internet Age"
Southwestern Journal of International Law
April 23, 2019
“Trouble in Tinseltown"
Los Angeles Daily Journal
March 29, 2019
“My Big Mouth"
Los Angeles Daily Journal
2019
“Entertainment Contracts with Minors in New York and California"
NYSBA EASL Journal
October 18, 2016
“A New Way to Revive a Corporation?”
Los Angeles Daily Journal
2016
“Hollywood Docket: One Sided World"
NYSBA EASL Journal
August 8, 2016
“Maybe America Needs More Peter Thiels"
Los Angeles Daily Journal
June 16, 2016
“We've Lost Control”
Los Angeles Daily Journal
May 10, 2013
“Talent Agency Act Survives Suit, Clarity Remains Elusive"
Los Angeles Daily Journal
September 2013
“The Man Who Seduced Hollywood”
Los Angeles Lawyer
May 2013
“Remedies for Web Defamation"
California Lawyer
June 2013
“To Find Employment as a Lawyer, You Must Market Yourself"
Los Angeles Lawyer
2014
“Litigation: How to Draft Defensively Without Killing the Deal”
Licensing of Music from BC to AD (Before the Change/After Digital)
International Association of Entertainment Lawyers
2012
“Defamatory Tweeting and Other Name and Likeness Violations”
Building Your Artist's Brand as a Business
International Association of Entertainment Lawyers
June 2008
“Ten Rules for Success in the Practice of Law"
Los Angeles Lawyer
2002
“Establishing Constitutional Malice for Defamation and Privacy/False Light Claims When Hidden Cameras and Deception Are Used by the Newsgatherer"
Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review
2010
“New Developments in California Privacy and Defamation Law"
California Litigation
2010
“What Happened to Unjust Enrichment in California? The Deterioration of Equity in the California Courts"
Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review
December 2009
“The Danger of ‘Anti-Libel Tourism' Litigation in the United States"
Los Angeles Lawyer
2006
“Privacy and the First Amendment"
California Litigation
1998
“Caught in the Act"
Los Angeles Lawyer
1979
"The Personal Manager in the California Entertainment Industry"
Southern California Law Review
2017
The Musician's Business & Legal Guide (5th Edition)
2004
The John Wooden Pyramid of Success (2nd Edition)
Education
J.D.
B.A.
Practice Areas
Entertainment Law
Class Action Litigation
Privacy Law
Business Litigation
Right of Publicity
Defamation Law
Copyright Infringement
Theft of Idea
Guild Disputes
Admissions
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