Zachary

H.

Johnson

Mr. Johnson, a 1995 Stillwater Area High School graduate, was magna cum laude at Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia, where he served as a staff editor on the Temple Law Review and received the school’s Barrister Award in Trial Advocacy and the Lynne M. Abraham (Philadelphia District Attorney) award for outstanding performance in Criminal Law and Professional Responsibility. While in law school, he held internships at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and the Philadelphia branch of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Johnson began his legal career serving as an Assistant District Attorney under the Hon. Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney of New York County (Manhattan). There, he served in the Appeals Bureau, where he authored approximately 30 briefs submitted to the Appellate Division and Term of the Supreme Court of New York and the New York Court of Appeals. After leaving the Appeals Bureau, he transferred to the Trial Division and served as a trial attorney where he acted as lead prosecutor in numerous felony and misdemeanor jury trials, grand jury presentations, and evidentiary and suppression hearings.

Mr. Johnson left the D.A.’s office in 2006 to join the litigation group of Shearman & Sterling LLP, a large New York-based international law firm. There, he worked on a variety of civil and investigative matters, including an internal investigation of a large global firm in connection with an international bribery and corruption probe and an adversary proceeding in connection with the bankruptcy of a prominent investment bank. He took and defended depositions and cross-examined an adversary’s CFO in commercial litigation arbitration proceedings. He has also represented clients in connection with landlord and tenant and subpoena-compliance matters. In 2009, Mr. Johnson co-founded Galluzzo & Johnson LLP, a boutique criminal and civil litigation practice, which he ran and practiced in for seven years. 

Since returning to Minnesota in 2017, Mr. Johnson has enjoyed practicing in real estate litigation, family law, civil/business disputes, probate litigation and criminal law. He has practiced at the district court level in Hubbard, Cass, Becker, Clearwater, Itasca, Todd, Beltrami, Wadena, and St. Louis Counties as well as in the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Minnesota Supreme Court. He is licensed to practice in Minnesota and New York state and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. In his spare time, Mr. Johnson enjoys hunting, dogs, and playing piano. He is currently the membership chair of the Park Rapids Rotary and serves on the board of the Northern Light Opera Company.