Ralph W. Johnson III

Related Practice Area	Related Industries	Articles & Publications
News & Events

Ralph W. Johnson III is the Co-Chair of Halloran & Sage's Appellate Law and Advocacy Practice Group.  He has represented corporations, the State of Connecticut, municipalities, private individuals and public officials in the federal and/or state appellate courts.  He has argued successfully before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts.

Mr. Johnson first joined Halloran & Sage in 2001.  He rejoined the firm after a period of government service in Washington, D.C.  Specifically, between May and August of 2010, Mr. Johnson served as Special Counsel to Senator Jeff Sessions, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in connection with the confirmation hearing of Elena Kagan to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and the subsequent floor vote.

Before joining Halloran & Sage, Mr. Johnson practiced with the New York City office of a large, international law firm.  He also practiced with another large Connecticut firm.  He has handled a variety of complex, insurance and commercial litigation matters, involving such issues as unfair trade practices, trademark and copyright infringement, patent ownership, trade secrets and commercial torts and contract disputes.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Johnson served as a law clerk to two federal district judges: the Honorable W. Harold Albritton III in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and the Honorable Dominic J. Squatrito in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

In 2007, the Hartford Business Journal named Mr. Johnson to its list of "Forty Under 40" business leaders in the region.

In 2006, the President of the Connecticut Bar Association ("CBA") appointed Mr. Johnson a member of the CBA's Appellate Certification Task Force. 

Mr. Johnson has also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Connecticut School of Law.  He has taught constitutional and administrative law at other schools. 

Mr. Johnson has published and spoken on a variety of topics including: federal appellate jurisdiction, interlocutory appeals, en banc proceedings in the federal courts of appeals, the First Amendment and the federal judiciary.  He is the co-author of "Federal Appellate Jurisdiction: An Overview of the Core Principles," a chapter in A Defense Lawyer's Guide To Appellate Practice, a monograph published by the Defense Research Institute (DRI).  Between 2007 and 2010, Mr. Johnson was the Chair of the Publications Subcommittee of DRI's Appellate Advocacy Committee.  In that capacity, he served as the Editor-In-Chief of the committee's newsletter, Certworthy.  He is currently the Chair of the Committee's Appellate Rules Subcommittee and the reporter on Second Circuit decisions for Certworthy.

Mr. Johnson was also the managing editor of Volumes 4 & 5 of International Intellectual Property & Policy, a treatise published in the United States by Juris Publishing and in the United Kingdom by Sweet & Maxwell.

Between 1996 and 1999, Mr. Johnson was a member of the Federal Bar Council's Committee on Second Circuit Courts.  He is currently a member of the Board of Editors of the FBC's newsletter and a member of its Connecticut Committee.