Joe Johnston is a partner at Goodell DeVries, where he focuses his practice on the defense of healthcare providers against medical malpractice claims. Joe's admiration for the healthcare profession runs deep. Through his family's strong connection to medicine, including grandparents who ran a family medicine practice out of their home in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Joe learned from a young age that the healthcare profession, at its core, is an altruistic one. For that reason, he considers it an honor to represent nurses, physicians, and hospitals, including several of the world-class hospitals in the Baltimore and D.C. area, in defending against medical malpractice claims and guiding them through the litigation process. Over his career, Joe has litigated to successful resolution a variety of high-exposure medical malpractice claims, including claims of alleged birth injury, failure to prevent preterm birth, catastrophic brain injury arising from alleged medication errors, complications arising during and after surgery, and failure to diagnose or delay in diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as cancer, pulmonary embolism, and sepsis.
Joe relishes every opportunity to be in the courtroom. He has jury trial experience in defending against medical malpractice and dental malpractice claims in Maryland, experience arguing motions in Maryland Circuit Courts, and appellate court experience arguing appeals in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He also has extensive experience in participating in mediation, and experience with other forms of alternative dispute resolution such as binding arbitration.
Before joining Goodell DeVries in 2019, Joe practiced at a firm in Baltimore County, Maryland, where he handled medical and dental malpractice defense cases and other civil defense litigation, including premises liability, lead paint exposure, and auto tort wrongful death cases. Joe also practiced for several years in Raleigh, North Carolina, where his practice was concentrated primarily in construction litigation, including complex construction defect and construction worksite accident cases. While in North Carolina, Joe gained first-chair jury trial experience and participated in numerous mediations.
Joe has been honored as a Maryland Super Lawyer in the area of Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Defense and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America in Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants. A Baltimore native, Joe graduated cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law. After law school, he completed a judicial clerkship with the Honorable James R. Eyler at the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.
