Perkins Coie Adds Former Judge Diane Johnsen to Litigation Practice in Phoenix

PHOENIX (February 28, 2022)—Perkins Coie is honored to announce that Diane Johnsen has joined the firm's national Litigation and Appellate practice. Diane joins the firm after fourteen years of service as a judge on the Arizona State Court of Appeals.

Diane will become a member of Perkins Coie's Appeals, Issues, and Strategies group, where she will serve clients across offices. She is also the newest addition to the firm's Phoenix office, which manages a range of commercial litigation, including patent and other intellectual property disputes, public law and constitutional issues, business torts, contracts, antitrust litigation, product liability, corporate governance, securities, professional liability, and environmental litigation, as well as bankruptcy, environmental and natural resources, energy, water law, and white-collar criminal defense matters.

Diane was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2006 and served as the court's chief judge during 2014-15. In 2020, she received both the Arizona Judicial Branch's "Judge of the Year Award" and the Arizona State Bar Association's James A. Walsh Outstanding Jurist Award. "Diane's vast judicial experience, and her insights into the judicial process will be enormously valuable to our clients," said Jessica Everett-Garcia, the national chair of Perkins Coie's Litigation practice. "We're thrilled to welcome Diane to our litigation and appellate practice amid strong demand for our counsel and as we continue to manage many complex cases for clients in and beyond Phoenix."

"Diane's experience on the court of appeals bench will be an asset to our Phoenix office, and it allows us to further expand upon the range of legal counsel and services we are able to provide our clients," said Todd Kerr, the managing partner of Perkins Coie's Phoenix office. "I'm excited to welcome Diane to the firm and to continue our growth in Phoenix."

Diane received her Juris Doctor from Stanford University, where she was an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review, her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from the University of Arizona, and a Master of Laws in Judicial Studies from Duke University. Before taking the bench, Diane was a commercial litigation attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles and at Osborn Maledon in Phoenix.