Stephen Ross Johnson
srj@rddlawfirm.com
Mr. Johnson, a partner with Ritchie Dillard & Davies, is a trial attorney whose practice is focused on the defense of persons and companies accused of white collar crimes, major felonies, and other charges in federal and state courts. He has argued or briefed cases before the Supreme Court of the United States; the Supreme Court of Tennessee; the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits; all federal district courts in Tennessee; the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He is a member of the bars of these courts and has been admitted to practice on a pro hac vice basis in a number of other state and federal jurisdictions.
Mr. Johnson was chair of the Tennessee Bar Association Criminal Justice Section for three consecutive years. He currently serves as Treasurer of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, is slated to serve as President in two years, and for four consecutive years he served on that organization’s Board of Directors. He serves on the judicial and technology committees of the Knoxville Bar Association and is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court. For his volunteer efforts, the Tennessee Bar Association honored Mr. Johnson with its Access to Justice Award.
Mr. Johnson has published articles and taught lawyers, law students, members of law enforcement, and others on the topics of trial practice, wiretapping, ethics, federal grand jury investigations, the death penalty, pretrial preparation, forensics, and other criminal law and litigation issues. He is an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he supervises students and teaches a course on Innocence and Wrongful Criminal Convictions at the UT Legal Clinic.
Mr. Johnson is a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College at Mercer Law School. He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence, with honors, from the University of Tennessee College of Law. At the College of Law, Mr. Johnson was a member of the Moot Court Board and the Constitutional Law Moot Court Team, where for two straight years he was selected as one of the top oralists at national competitions. He also served as the chairperson of the College of Law’s Speaker Series.
Mr. Johnson’s community involvement while at the College of Law included co-chairing UT Pro Bono, where he directed projects to assist the homeless and persons wrongfully convicted of crimes. His community work earned Mr. Johnson the William M. Leech, Jr. Public Service Prize from the College of Law. The Tennessee Commission on Higher Education awarded him its Community Service Award. The UT Legal Clinic awarded Mr. Johnson its Excellence in Criminal Advocacy Award. Additionally, during his legal education, Mr. Johnson worked with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, concentrating on civil rights and death penalty litigation, and with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Mr. Johnson received his undergraduate education at Carson-Newman College, studying economics and political science. He was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to the United Kingdom, where he received a Diploma in Contemporary Economic History from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and served as a consultant to a Scottish economic development agency. He married his college sweetheart, a special education teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children and are active in their church and community.
