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Attorney Profiles

Alan E. Johnson 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Senior Counsel
phone (412) 803-1196
fax (412) 803-1188
email aejohnson@mdwcg.com

For more than 20 years, a substantial part of Alan's practice has involved constitutional and other public law litigation, professional liability litigation, defamation litigation, employment litigation, business contract litigation, and insurance coverage opinions and litigation (governmental, professional, and business liability policies).

Alan practices in the federal and state courts of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Before joining Marshall Dennehey in 2003, he was a practicing litigation attorney in Cleveland, Ohio (1979-1981, 1983-2003), where, in addition to trial court litigation, he handled more than 25 appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Ohio Supreme Court, and the Ohio Courts of Appeals. He was an editor at The Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company in Rochester, New York, from 1981 to 1983, where he made substantial contributions to the publication Federal Procedure, Lawyers Edition.

Significant Representative Matters

  • Won defense verdict in a defamation suit by a general contractor against a construction manager for a Pennsylvania school district.

  • Won defense verdict in a federal Fair Housing Act case against Ohio municipalities (affirmed on appeal).

  • As a result of Alan's qualified immunity appeal from a denial of a municipal officials' motion to dismiss, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals formulated a new, pro-defendant procedure for municipal officials' qualified immunity motions to dismiss.

  • The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted Alan's Motion for Summary Judgment on the basis of statute of limitations in a case in which a female middle school student had disappeared for ten years, secretly moving in with a school security guard employed by the client security company.

  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of the president of a condominium association who was sued for defamation, invasion of privacy, and ethnic intimidation by a condominium unit owner.

  • Obtained summary judgment on the basis of statute of limitations in a case alleging federal constitutional claims against a nonprofit telecommunications emergency dispatch company (and certain dispatchers) used by Pennsylvania political subdivisions where a discharged employee shot and killed the plaintiff's decedent.

  • Obtained summary judgment in a case in which the plaintiffs alleged that defendant attorneys committed legal malpractice in connection with a manufacturing company's credit transactions with a bank.

  • Obtained summary judgment on the basis of res judicata in a federal lawsuit alleging that a Pennsylvania municipality and its council members violated a construction contractor's constitutional rights when the council decertified the contractor (affirmed on appeal).

  • The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio granted Alan's motion to dismiss a First Amendment case brought by an adult cabaret dancer against an Ohio municipality.

  • Obtained the dismissal of a federal court substantive due process case against an Ohio municipality for failing to approve a concrete recycling plant, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal.

  • Motion to Dismiss was granted in a federal case against an Ohio municipality and its officials where the plaintiffs alleged violations of the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and RICO.

  • After obtaining dismissals of repetitive lawsuits filed by a pro se plaintiff against an Ohio municipality, obtained a frivolous conduct judgment against the plaintiff under an Ohio statute ($10,000.00 judgment against the pro se plaintiff affirmed on appeal).

  • Obtained summary judgment in a case by a municipal firefighter alleging constitutional claims against an Ohio municipality and its mayor arising out of employment issues (affirmed on appeal).

  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of an Ohio township on the plaintiffs' takings claim (affirmed on appeal).

  • Summary judgment was granted in favor of an Ohio mayor, city council members, and a public service director on the basis of Alan's argument that an ordinance passed by initiative (which abrogated earlier city council legislation for the construction of a reservoir) violated the Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution (affirmed on appeal)
    • Year Joined Organization:
    2003
    Areas of Practice:
    Constitutional and other public law litigation
    (defending governmental entities, officials, and police officers)
    Professional liability defense
    (attorneys, brokers, agents, etc.)
    Employment litigation (representing employer)
    Noncompetition covenant litigation
    Business and construction contract litigation
    Nonprofit corporate litigation
    Defamation litigation
    Insurance coverage opinions and litigation
    (governmental, professional, and business liability policies)
    Bar Admissions:
    Ohio, 1979
    U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1979
    U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1981
    U.S. Supreme Court, 1991
    Pennsylvania, 2002
    U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania, 2003
    U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 2003
    Education:
    Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland, Ohio, 1979
    J.D.


    University of Chicago, 1971
    M.A.
    Major:  Humanities (history, philosophy)


    University of Chicago, 1968
    B.A.
    Major:  Political Science


    Published Works:
    Ohio Employment Law, Law Alerts on the Marshall Dennehey website, 2006 - present


    Third Circuit Applies Twombly Notice Pleading Principles to Fourteenth Amendment Claims Brought Under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, Defense Digest, Vol. 14, No. 4, Dec., 2008


    Squaring the Circle: The Third Circuit Mandates Pre-Answer Procedures for Qualified Immunity Challenges to Factually Vague Complaints, Defense Digest, Vol. 12, No. 4, Dec., 2006


    Land Use Earthquake: Supreme Court Modifies "Takings" Jurisprudence, Defense Digest, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Sept.), 2005


    Recent Developments Regarding Ohio's Vexatious Litigator Statute, Defense Digest, Vol. 9, No. 2 (June), 2003


    "Municipal Corporations," "Property Rights," and "Due Process, Procedural", Encyclopedia of U.S. Supreme Court, edited by Thomas L. Lewis and Richard L. Wilson, (Pasadena: Salem Press, 2000)


    Federal Procedure, Lawyers Edition, (Rochester, N.Y.: Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company), Contributing Author, 1981-1983


    Representative Cases:
    Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224 (3d Cir. 2008)
    Thomas v. Independence Township, 463 F.3d 285 (3d Cir. 2006)
    Osiris Enterprises v. Borough of Whitehall, 398 F. Supp. 2d 400 (W.D. Pa. 2005)
    Fair Housing Advocates Association v. City of Richmond Hts., 209 F.3d 626 (6th Cir. 2000)
    Wayne v. Village of Sebring, 36 F.3d 517 (6th Cir. 1994)
    Zilich v. Longo, 34 F.3d 359 (6th Cir. 1994)
    Doughty v. City of Vermillion, 18 F. Supp.2d 819 (N.D. Ohio 1999), aff'd (6th Cir. 2000  )
    ACLU of Ohio, Inc. v. City of Stow, 29 F. Supp.2d 845 (N.D. Ohio 1998)
    McGee v. City of Warrensville Hts., 16 F. Supp.2d 837 (N.D. Ohio 1998)
    Threesome Entertainment v. Strittmather, 4 F. Supp.2d 710 (N.D. Ohio 1998)
    Rose v. Village of Peninsula, 875 F. Supp.442 (N.D. Ohio 1995)
    Smith v. City of Elyria, 857 F. Supp. 1203 (N.D. Ohio 1994)
    Bettio v. Village of Northfield, 775 F. Supp. 1545 (N.D. Ohio 1991)
    Sheffield v. Rowland, 87 Ohio St.3d 9, 716 N.E.2d 1121 (  1999)
    City of Middleburg Hts. v. Ohio Bd. of Bldg. Standards, 65 Ohio St.3d 510, 605 N.E.2d (amicus brief) (  1992)
    Wagner v. Armbruster, 108 Ohio App.3d 719, 671 N.E.2d 630 (  1996)
    Ketchel v. Bainbridge Township, 79 Ohio App.3d 174, 607 N.E.2d 22 (  1992)
    Peppers v. Beier, 75 Ohio App.3d 420, 599 N.E.2d 793 (  1991)
    Honors and Awards:
    AV Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell


    Professional Associations and Memberships:
    Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association


    Federal Bar Association


    Ohio State Bar Association


    Pennsylvania Bar Association

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