C. MICHAEL JOHNSON is an AV rated trial lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia. He has spent over 25 years developing a national practice involving complex insurance coverage litigation and counseling concerning all manner of insurance coverage disputes between insureds, agents, brokers, primary insurers, excess insurers, umbrella insurers and reinsurers. While a native to the South he began his legal practice in Seattle, Washington and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1984. After years of working in several excellent business firms where his section handled insurance litigation and liability defense, he started The Johnson Firm LLC in 2007 so all attorneys in the firm can be dedicated to complex insurance coverage litigation and liability defense.

His insurance coverage work has involved serving as lead counsel in Georgia litigation and as lead counsel, pro hac vice, in insurance coverage litigation in more than 20 other states. As an insurance coverage attorney, his experience has been gained on a national level providing him a very broad understanding of insurance coverage matters. He has represented clients in insurance litigation coverage cases in nearly every Federal Circuit in the United States. He has been admitted to the United States Court of Appeals in the Second Circuit, Fourth Circuit, Fifth Circuit, Eighth Circuit, Ninth Circuit and Eleventh Circuit. He is also admitted to the United States Court of Claims. Mr. Johnson has developed strong relationships with many local lawyers and industry experts in nearly every major city and he has had excellent success at both the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts.

As an insurance coverage lawyer, some of the many cases Mr. Johnson has been involved in the catastrophic property loss area include coverage litigation and counseling as insurance concerning construction, building and inland marine property losses involving the negligence of architects, engineers and contractors, building/structure/roof collapses, building/structure/mine earth and soil subsidence cases, a wide variety of fire and explosion cases from a multitude of causes, and all manner of property losses from flood, earthquake, wind/rain storm and hurricane. These property damage/loss matters also commonly involve complex business interruption, extra expense, soft cost coverage and bad faith issues.

In the maritime field, he has handled coverage litigation and liability defense involving serious bodily injury and wrongful death occurring at commercial ports, in state territorial waters, on off-shore drilling platforms and on the high seas, which are governed under the LHWCA, Jones Act, the OCS Lands Act and DOHSA. He also has experience in the variety of insurance coverages and liability laws that apply to hull losses caused by explosion, collision and allision and vessel cargo losses while at sea, loading or unloading, or in transit under through bills of lading.

In the maritime field, he has handled coverage litigation and liability defense involving serious bodily injury and wrongful death occurring at commercial ports, in state territorial waters, on off-shore drilling platforms and on the high seas, which are governed under the LHWCA, Jones Act, the OCS Lands Act and DOHSA. He also has experience in the variety of insurance coverages and liability laws that apply to hull losses caused by explosion, collision and allision and vessel cargo losses while at sea, loading or unloading, or in transit under through bills of lading.

In the field of cargo transportation and warehousing he has represented clients in insurance coverage litigation and liability defense involving freight forwarder liability, domestic intrastate and interstate motor truck carrier liability, ocean cargo carrier liability, international air carrier cargo liability and warehouse legal liability. He is knowledgeable of the wide variety of complex insurance coverages, U. S. statutory regimes and international treaties that govern this area of practice.

His environmental practice involves the insurance coverage and defense liability issues triggered by EPA Superfund enforcement and state environmental agency enforcement. In environmental insurance coverage litigation, Mr. Johnson has served as lead counsel for clients in many of the significant environmental insurance coverage cases litigated in the State of Georgia. Mr. Johnson has authored various publications including the Status of Environmental Liability Insurance Litigation for the State of Georgia in Legal Trends, and he has spoken at seminars given by the Environmental Section of the State Bar on environmental insurance litigation.

His practice also involves many other areas of insurance coverage representation such as the myriad of risk covered under commercial CGL policies, Builders Risk policies, Fine Art policies, and E & O and D & O policies. He gives seminars to lawyers and clients regarding insurance coverage and has provided counseling in the drafting of manuscript commercial policies. Mr. Johnson has also defended clients in various complex products liability cases as well as from wrongful death and serious bodily injury claims resulting from automobile accidents, trucking accidents, industrial accidents and maritime accidents.

The following types of policies are a representative sample of the types of policies that Mr. Johnson has dealt with as insurance litigation counsel over the course of handling many hundreds of significant coverage cases around the country:


PROPERTY POLICIES

• First-Party Commercial Property “All Risk” and “DIC” Primary/Excess Policies
• Commercial Builders Risk Policies
• Inland Marine Policies
• Fine Arts Policies
• Marine Hull Policies

LIABILITY POLICIES

• Commercial General Liability Primary, Excess and Umbrella Policies
• Occurrence and Claims Made Environmental Insurance Liability Policies
• Professional Services E & O Malpractice Policies
• D & O Policies
• Warehouse Legal Liability Policies
• Motor Truck, Ocean Carrier and Air Carrier Cargo Liability Policies
• Commercial Marine Liability Primary and Bumbershoot Policies
• P & I Marine Liability Policies
• Marine Terminal Operators Liability Policies

Mr. Johnson graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina State University with two Bachelor of Science degrees.æ He received his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, where he was the Research Editor of the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation.

Mr. Johnson is a member of the usual local and state bar organizations, the Lawyer's Club of Atlanta and a number of insurance practice groups. He has the highest rating Martindale-Hubbell bestows, AV, and has been repeatedly voted a "Super Lawyer" for many years. He is a professional member in the following:

• State Bar of Georgia Insurance Law Section
• State Bar of Georgia Environmental Law Section
• American Bar Association Litigation Section
• American Bar Association Tort and Insurance Practice Section
• Federal Bar Association
• Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute
• Defense Research Institute
• Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel

C. Michael Johnson
Founding Member
Direct: 404.442.8836
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Laurie Dugoniths is a member of the Johnson Firm, LLC, in Atlanta, Georgia, where she regularly represents the interests of insurance carriers in disputes with insureds and third parties concerning a variety of different coverage issues. Ms. Dugoniths also regularly provides coverage analysis and counseling on bad faith and extra-contractual liability. She has represented clients in providing coverage advice and/or litigated cases in both the state and federal courts in over twenty-three states and has been involved in appeals in the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits. Ms. Dugoniths' practice also includes the representation of individuals in disputes with disability carriers as well as commercial businesses in contract disputes.

The following is a representative list of the types of insurance coverages that have been the focus of her practice:

• First Party Commercial Property
• Commercial Business Risk
• Commercial General Liability
• Warehouse Legal Liability
• Motor Truck Cargo Liability
• Ocean and Air Cargo Liability
• Commercial Marine Liability
• Protection and Indemnity
• Marine Terminals Operators Liability
• Ship Repairer's Legal Liability
• Excess, Umbrella and Bumbershoot Liability

Ms. Dugoniths was voted a "Rising Star" by Atlanta Magazine in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and is an active member in a number of professional organizations, including the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, Georgia Bar and the Lawyer's Club.

Ms. Dugoniths grew up in Stony Brook, New York and received her B.S. degree in 1991 from the University of Dayton. She received her J.D. from the University of Miami in 1999. While attending the University of Miami School of Law, she served as a Vice President of the Moot Court Board.

Laurie E. Dugoniths
Member
Direct: 404.442.8837
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Mr. Wingfield is an associate with The Johnson Firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Wingfield focuses his practice on insurance coverage litigation and counseling. His litigation experience includes representing insurers in disputes over declination of coverage under property policies and liability policies. Mr. Wingfield has handled coverage issues in multiple states around the country, including Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, Alaska and Virginia. Mr. Wingfield has handled litigation involving claims for breach of contract, declaratory judgments and claims for bad faith denial of coverage. Mr. Wingfield also regularly provides insurers with coverage opinions, and he counsels insurers with regard to coverage issues including the issuance of reservations of rights letters and declination letters.

In addition to his insurance coverage background, Mr. Wingfield has counseled and represented businesses in commercial disputes and liability actions.

In statewide polls of lawyers and judges, Mr. Wingfield has been recognized by his peers as one of the best and brightest lawyers in Georgia. In 2006 and again in 2007, he was named as a "Rising Star" in the legal profession by Atlanta Magazine and the editors of the Super Lawyers' edition of Law and Politics, which is a designation limited to the top 2.5% of all lawyers under the age of 40 in the State.

Mr. Wingfield was born and raised in Atlanta. He attended The Westminster Schools and was the captain of the 1995 State Championship Wrestling Team.

Mr. Wingfield earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of Lile Moot Court Board and a participant in the Lile Moot Court Competition. Mr. Wingfield received his B.A., cum laude, in Political Science and Journalism from New York University, where he was a recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences Trustee Scholarship.

Thomas K. Wingfield
Associate
Direct: 404.442.8838
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Monique Wright Hudson is an associate with The Johnson Firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Formerly, Mrs. Hudson practiced in the Insurance and Re-Insurance Group as an associate in the Tampa, Florida office of a well known regional law firm where she primarily handled complex insurance coverage and related litigation matters. Mrs. Hudson's practice is focused on insurance coverage counseling and litigation. As counselor to large insurers with multi-million dollar risks, Mrs. Hudson advises insurers regarding potential exposure at all stages in the claims handling process from disputes over declination of coverage under property policies and liability policies to addressing the matters that may arise in later litigation. Mrs. Hudson has experience in handling coverage matters in Florida state and federal courts and she has advised insurers on coverage issues applying the laws of several other states.

Mrs. Hudson has represented insurers in a broad range of capacities, including representation of insurers in litigation, arbitration and mediation. She represents and advises insurers regarding complex first and third party coverage and defense matters, including claims involving catastrophes, suspected intentional fires, business interruption, collapse, appraisal, assault and battery and intentional acts. Mrs. Hudson has been involved in litigating claims for breach of contract, declaratory judgments and claims for bad faith denial of coverage. Mrs. Hudson is admitted to practice in Georgia, Florida and the Federal Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Mrs. Hudson was born on Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. She lived in various cities in the United States and abroad before moving to Tallahassee, FL where she graduated from high school. She received her B.A., with honors, from The Florida State University making the Academic Deans List five consecutive semesters.

Mrs. Hudson earned her J.D. in 2006 from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she was the Executive Editor of the Southern University Law Review. Mrs. Hudson graduated second in her law school class with magna cum laude honors.

Monique Wright Hudson, Esq.
Associate
Direct: 404.442.8842
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