Justin T. Johnson

Partner, Client Services
Chicago

Justin is the founding Partner and leader of Latitude’s Chicago office.

Justin’s legal career comprises pivotal roles within Big Law and as in-house counsel. Prior to joining Latitude, he served as Senior Counsel, Global Affiliate Governance & Assistant Secretary, Domestic Affiliates, at AbbVie Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company. In this capacity, he was the principal attorney for the governance oversight of the company’s 300+ affiliates and led the worldwide legal integration of Allergan Limited following its acquisition by AbbVie in spring 2020. Justin served on AbbVie’s HBCU Legal Career Promotion Committee and was also a member of AbbVie’s 1L Legal Internship Committee, where he served as a mentor to first year law students.

Prior to his time at AbbVie, Justin served various leadership roles with Rush University System for Health (RUSH), a leading academic health system with hospitals and clinical operations across the Chicagoland area. Most recently, Justin served as RUSH’s Senior Corporate Counsel, Senior Associate General Counsel, Managing Director of Corporate Development, and Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees. During this time, Justin was the principal attorney for major corporate health care transactions including foundational governance reorganizations, significant M&A activity, and RUSH’s tax-exempt bond issuances, re-financings, and disclosures. He was also an Assistant Professor of Rush University’s Department of Health Systems Management, where he co-directed its Health Law and Ethics course.  Additionally, Justin served as a member of RUSH’s Institutional Conflict of Interest Committee, the Diversity Leadership Council, and as the Co-Chairperson of the Demographic Strategy Team.

Before that, Justin was a Corporate Associate in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, and prior to law school, he was a Litigation Paralegal with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in its New York office.

Justin has been nationally honored as a Top Assistant General Counsel by the First Chair Awards and as a Rising Star by Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). Additionally, he has been recognized by AbbVie as a champion for diversity, equity, equality, and inclusion, and he received the Chairman’s Award, AbbVie’s highest honor, for his role in leading the successful integration of Allergan.

In his volunteer time, Justin serves on the Board of Directors of Rush Oak Park Hospital, as a System Trustee of RUSH where he is a member of the RUSH System Audit Committee and Conflict of Interest Sub-Committee, and as a member of the Citizens Police Oversight Committee of the Village of Oak Park, a committee charged with evaluating complaints about police conduct and interpersonal/community relations.

Justin lives with his loving wife and endlessly energetic two children in Oak Park, just west of Chicago. Little brings Justin more joy than pizza and a movie on a Friday night with his family (though, if the Chicago Bears ever win another Super Bowl, that may win his award for best picture…).

Justin earned his J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a B.A. in Psychology from Princeton University.

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