practice areas
practice accolades
The American Lawyer Magazine's Litigation Department of the Year – Labor and Employment Law Finalist 2004, Winner 2006, Finalist 2008, Finalist 2010, and Finalist 2012
Listed in the highest tier for National Labor and Employment Practice in Chambers USA 2011
Ranked in the top tier by The Legal 500 for Labor and Employment Litigation, ERISA Litigation, Labor-Management Relations, and Workplace and Employment Counseling (2011)
Ranked, National Tier 1: Employment Law – Management, U.S. News and Best Lawyers (2010)
Named one of Law360's Employment Groups of the Year (2010)
Ranked #1 for "Most Prestigious" Labor and Employment Practice, Vault 2012 Associate Survey
honors + affiliations
Listed, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2009–2011)
Noted in The Legal 500 for Labor and Employment—Employment Law Counseling (2007)
Recipient, Book Awards in Employment Discrimination, Labor Law, Civil Procedure and First Amendment, University of Michigan
Listed, New Jersey Law Journal's "40 Under 40" (2007)
bar admissions
- New Jersey
- New York
Court Admissions
- U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern Districts of New York
Rene M. Johnson is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice.
Ms. Johnson represents employers in litigation and disputes under federal, state and local statutes, including ERISA, in federal, state and administrative forums and in arbitration. She has extensive experience representing clients in the financial services industry, and she has worked closely with employers in that industry since 1993. Apart from litigation, Ms. Johnson counsels and represents employers on all facets of the employment relationship, including hiring, performance and discharge matters, defamation actions, wage and hour issues, workers' compensation, compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the workplace, and other workplace-related personnel issues.
Ms. Johnson has handled a number of trials, including jury trials and bench trials, as well as AAA and NASD arbitrations. She has significant experience with reduction-in-force planning and review. She spent several months "on loan" to a client, functioning as in-house counsel on labor and employment law matters, and has served in an "on-call" capacity for clients providing day-to-day counseling and advice. Ms. Johnson speaks regularly on legal compliance issues including the ADA, FMLA and Sarbanes-Oxley, and she has written a number of articles on alternative dispute resolution. She obtained one of the first-published decisions enforcing a jury waiver in a discrimination case.
Ms. Johnson is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York.
education
- University of Michigan Law School, 1993, J.D.
- Cornell University, 1990, B.A.