Clark Johnson
Free Consultation
710 West Main Street, 4th Floor, Louisville, KY 40202
About Clark Johnson
Practice Areas
- Business Law
Education
- Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana, 1994J.D.
- Honors: magna cum laude
- Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1989B.A.
- Major: Slavic Languages & Literature
Representative Cases
- Abbit v. ING USA Annuity and Life Ins. Co. – Putative nationwide class action filed in federal court in San Diego in 2013 challenging the pricing and embedded derivatives in fixed indexed annuities (FIAs). Represented by Mr. Johnson as lead counsel, Defendant successfully moved for summary judgment on the class claims, 2016 WL 4542204 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 30, 2016), and on the individual claims, 252 F. Supp. 3d 999 (S.D. Cal. 2017). Those rulings were affirmed in their entirety by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 774 F. App’x 351 (9th Cir. 2019). Other issuers facing similar FIA claims in California suffered adverse litigation rulings and entered into eight- and nine-figure settlements.
- Avritt v. ReliaStar Life Ins. Co. – Putative nationwide class action filed in federal court in Seattle in 2007 and transferred to Minneapolis. Plaintiffs challenged Defendant’s practices concerning the crediting of excess interest on fixed annuities, largely issued in the 403(b) market. The trial court denied Plaintiff’s motion for class certification and dismissed the case. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, 615 F.3d 1023 (8th Cir. 2010), in a decision that has been cited almost 900 times and remains a leading precedent in opposing class certification in life insurance and annuity litigation. Mr. Johnson argued all of the motions at the trial court in addition to the oral argument on appeal.
- Edwards Moving & Rigging, Inc. v. Sims Crane, Inc. – Mr. Johnson served as lead trial counsel for Plaintiff in this contract and business tort action in federal court in Tampa. The court entered a partial preliminary injunction, and then Plaintiff established that Defendants were in contempt of the injunction. After a three-day bench trial in Summer 2020, the Court entered a permanent injunction in favor of Plaintiff. See 2020 WL 7707025 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 29, 2020).
- Nautilus Ins. Co. v. SOCAYR SFH, LLC – Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel for a defendant insured in an action seeking a declaratory judgment that the defendant was not entitled to insurance coverage in an underlying litigation. The trial court granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss the suit. 2020 WL 3260995 (W.D. Ky. June 16, 2020).
- Ohio River Valley Associates, LLC v. PST Servs., Inc. – Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel for plaintiff ORVA in this matter seeking to enjoin an arbitration commenced against ORVA. The trial court granted ORVA’s motion to enjoin the arbitration. 2018 WL 773424 (W.D. Ky. Feb. 7, 2018)
- Private Arbitration – Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel for respondent in a three-day evidentiary hearing under the AAA Complex Commercial Rules in which the claimant asserted a variety of claims seeking to impose liability on the respondent for its subsidiary’s debts incurred in intralogistics field. The Panel issued a reasoned award in March 2021 rejecting all of those claims, and a federal judge in Atlanta thereafter entered judgment on the award in favor of Mr. Johnson’s client.
- Tompkins v. ReliaStar Life Ins. Co.— Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel in Defendant in this matter removed to federal court in Seattle. Plaintiff claimed that Defendant substantially under-credited interest on certain annuities dating to the early 1980s. In December 2019, at oral argument, the trial court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and Plaintiff abandoned her appeal of that judgment.
- Abbit v. ING USA Annuity and Life Ins. Co. – Putative nationwide class action filed in federal court in San Diego in 2013 challenging the pricing and embedded derivatives in fixed indexed annuities (FIAs). Represented by Mr. Johnson as lead counsel, Defendant successfully moved for summary judgment on the class claims, 2016 WL 4542204 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 30, 2016), and on the individual claims, 252 F. Supp. 3d 999 (S.D. Cal. 2017). Those rulings were affirmed in their entirety by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 774 F. App’x 351 (9th Cir. 2019). Other issuers facing similar FIA claims in California suffered adverse litigation rulings and entered into eight- and nine-figure settlements.
- Avritt v. ReliaStar Life Ins. Co. – Putative nationwide class action filed in federal court in Seattle in 2007 and transferred to Minneapolis. Plaintiffs challenged Defendant’s practices concerning the crediting of excess interest on fixed annuities, largely issued in the 403(b) market. The trial court denied Plaintiff’s motion for class certification and dismissed the case. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, 615 F.3d 1023 (8th Cir. 2010), in a decision that has been cited almost 900 times and remains a leading precedent in opposing class certification in life insurance and annuity litigation. Mr. Johnson argued all of the motions at the trial court in addition to the oral argument on appeal.
- Edwards Moving & Rigging, Inc. v. Sims Crane, Inc. – Mr. Johnson served as lead trial counsel for Plaintiff in this contract and business tort action in federal court in Tampa. The court entered a partial preliminary injunction, and then Plaintiff established that Defendants were in contempt of the injunction. After a three-day bench trial in Summer 2020, the Court entered a permanent injunction in favor of Plaintiff. See 2020 WL 7707025 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 29, 2020).
- Nautilus Ins. Co. v. SOCAYR SFH, LLC – Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel for a defendant insured in an action seeking a declaratory judgment that the defendant was not entitled to insurance coverage in an underlying litigation. The trial court granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss the suit. 2020 WL 3260995 (W.D. Ky. June 16, 2020).
- Ohio River Valley Associates, LLC v. PST Servs., Inc. – Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel for plaintiff ORVA in this matter seeking to enjoin an arbitration commenced against ORVA. The trial court granted ORVA’s motion to enjoin the arbitration. 2018 WL 773424 (W.D. Ky. Feb. 7, 2018)
- Private Arbitration – Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel for respondent in a three-day evidentiary hearing under the AAA Complex Commercial Rules in which the claimant asserted a variety of claims seeking to impose liability on the respondent for its subsidiary’s debts incurred in intralogistics field. The Panel issued a reasoned award in March 2021 rejecting all of those claims, and a federal judge in Atlanta thereafter entered judgment on the award in favor of Mr. Johnson’s client.
- Tompkins v. ReliaStar Life Ins. Co.— Mr. Johnson served as lead counsel in Defendant in this matter removed to federal court in Seattle. Plaintiff claimed that Defendant substantially under-credited interest on certain annuities dating to the early 1980s. In December 2019, at oral argument, the trial court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and Plaintiff abandoned her appeal of that judgment.
Qualifications
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
- U.S. District Court District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky
- U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan
Other Affiliations
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- American Bar Association, Litigation Section
- Louisville Bar Association
- Member, Joint Local Rules Commission for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, 2016-present
- Member, Jefferson County (Kentucky) Business Court Docket – Pilot Project Committee, 2019-present
Past Positions
- Law Clerk, Hon. S. Hugh Dillin, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
Office Info
Other Colleagues
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Commercial Law
- Class Actions, Health Care Law
- Business Law
Nearby Lawyers
- Business Law
The power of the lawyer is in the uncertainty of the law.