Anne M. Johnson
Anne is an appellate specialist with extensive experience handling high-stakes appeals in state and federal courts. She is equally at ease in trial courts, frequently collaborating with trial teams on both sides of the docket before, during and after trial. The subject matter of Anne’s appellate practice has ranged from commercial disputes to personal injury and products liability law to family law.
In 2020, Anne was named Litigator of the Week in AmLaw Litigation Daily for overturning a $110 million fraud verdict in the Dallas Court of Appeals. In 2021, Benchmark Litigation wrote that Anne “has indeed emerged as a star” in appellate law, and ranked her among the Top 250 Women in Litigation in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In the 2022 Chambers USA directory, commenters described Anne as “extremely effective on her feet and even more effective on paper” and “one of the best writers I have seen.” In the 2023 Chambers USA directory, Anne was promoted to Band 2 with comments like, “she is an excellent writer with very good judgment” who “has the trust of the appellate judiciary.”
In March 2022, Anne joined Jeff Tillotson and Jon Patton to form Tillotson Johnson & Patton. The Texas Lawbook called Anne’s move “the union of one of the state’s most respected appellate lawyers with one of the state’s most respected trial lawyers.”
Prior to joining Jeff and Jon, Anne was a partner in the Appellate Section of Haynes Boone, where she served on the firm’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors, and chaired the Litigation Department.
Among her many bar and community roles, Anne serves on the Executive Committee and as a Master in the Patrick E. Higginbotham Inn of Court, as Co-Chair of the 2022 and 2023 Women’s Advocacy Awards Supporting Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, and as a Leader in the University of Texas Center for Women in Law.
Anne and her husband, State Senator Nathan Johnson, have three children.
University of Texas School of Law
J.D., 1995
University of Pennsylvania
B.A., 1992, with honors
Texas
Supreme Court of the United States
United States Courts of Appeal
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Eighth Circuit
United States District Courts
Eastern District of Texas
Northern District of Texas
Southern District of Texas
Western District of Texas
Homeless Collaborative of Dallas and Collin Counties
Board Member, 2020-2023
Legal Aid of Northwest Texas Women’s Advocacy Awards
Co-Chair, 2021-2023
Patrick E. Higginbotham Inn of Court
Master, 2015-present
Executive Committee, 2023-present
Relaunch: Helping Women Reenter the Legal Profession
Dallas Bar Association, 2019-2022
University of Texas Center for Women in Law
Power Circle Member, 2016-present
University of Texas Alumni Association Executive Committee
Board Member, 2015-2019
Family Gateway
Board Member, 2014-2019
Board Chair, 2016-2017
Advisory Board, 2020-present
New Friends New Life
Board Member, 2016-2018
Alcuin School
Board of Trustees, 2015-2018
Texas General Counsel Forum
DFW Chapter, Board Member, 2009-2017
Co-Chair, Programs Committee, 2010
Co-Chair, Dedman Award and Dinner, 2011
Attorneys Serving the Community
Committee Chair, 2008-2011
State Bar of Texas Appellate Section
Council Member, 2006-2009
Committee Chair, 2002-2012
Texas Bar Foundation
Fellow, 2006-present
Dallas Bar Association Business Litigation and Appellate Sections,
American Bar Association,
Fifth Circuit Bar Association,
Member
Individually Ranked in Chambers USA
Chambers and Partners
for Litigation: Appellate in Texas, 2017-2023
Top 250 Women in Litigation
Benchmark Litigation, Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, 2021-2023
Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas
Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2014-2016, 2020-2023
Top 100 DFW Super Lawyers
Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2020-2023
Named a “Texas Trailblazer” by Texas Lawyer (2019)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America
Woodward/White, Inc.
for Appellate Law, 2010-2023
for Commercial Litigation, 2013-2023
Recognized in D Magazine’s Best Lawyers of Dallas
D Magazine Partners, 2015-2023
Named a Texas Super Lawyer
Thomson Reuters
in Civil Appellate Law, 2003-2005, 2010-2023
Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law
Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 2002-present
“Practice and Procedure at the Fifth Court of Appeals” (Moderator, with Justice Ken Molberg, Justice Cory Carlyle, and Justice Erin Nowell)
Dallas and Tarrant County Bar Appellate Section Joint Meeting
August 2023
“Ethics in Appellate Advocacy” (with Justice Bill Pedersen and Chad Ruback)
Dallas Bar Association
August 2023
“Texas Supreme Court Panel” (Moderator, with Hon. Nathan L. Hecht, Hon. Debra H.Lehrmann, and Hon. J. Brett Busby)
2023 UT Law Conference on State and Federal Appeals
June 2023
“Preparing for Oral Argument”
2022 UT Law Conference on State and Federal Appeals
June 2022
“Texas Supreme Court Update”
44th Annual Advanced Civil Trial
July-October 2021
“Rules Update: What’s New with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure” (with Kennon Wooten)
10th Annual Advanced Trial Strategies
February 2021
“Preparing For and Giving an Effective Oral Argument”
Texas Supreme Court History and Practice Course
April 2021
“Amicus Briefs in Texas Appellate Courts”
Panel moderator, 31st Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals
June 2021
“Effective Formation of Judgments” (with Jason Jordan)
State Bar of Texas Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course,
September 2020
“Justice Paul Green’s Legacy on the Texas Supreme Court”
Co-author, The Texas Lawbook
July 24, 2020
“Rule 91a Dismissals and Appeals” (with Kennon Wooten)
28th Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals
June 2018
“Prejudgment Interest and Other Judgment Formation Battlegrounds”
Dallas Bar Association Appellate Section
April 2018
“Recent Developments in the Award of Attorneys’ Fees”
2017 UT Law Conference on State and Federal Appeals
June 2, 2017
Court of Appeals Justices Panel: Appeals and Ethics
Moderator, Appellate Sections of the Dallas and Fort Worth Bar Associations
November 5, 2015
“Winning Your Appeal on Damages”
State Bar of Texas, 19th Annual Advanced Civil Appellate Practice,
September 2015
“Prejudgment Interest and Other Judgment Battlegrounds” (with Jason N. Jordan)
University of Texas School of Law, 25th Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals
June 2015
“Preservation of Error in the Trial Court” (with Judge Ken Molberg and Judge Jim Jordan)
Dallas Bar Association Trial Skills Section
May 2015
“Keeping Damages on Appeal”
Texas Bar CLE, Damages in Civil Litigation
February 2015
“Arbitration Hot Topics for Appellate Lawyers (with Kate Galston and Michael Scodro)
American Bar Association Appellate Judges Education Institute Summit,
November 2014
Federal v. State Comparisons
State Bar of Texas, 28th Annual Advanced Appellate Practice Course,
September 2014
“Top Ten Questions About Arbitration (with Christopher D. Kratovil)
Dallas Bar Association, Appellate Section
December 2013
“Evident Partiality” (with Christopher D. Kratovil)
The Advocate
Winter 2013
“Hot Topics in Arbitration”
Dallas Bar Association Bench Bar Conference
2013
“Top 10 Trial Judgment Traps” (with Hon. J. Brett Busby)
State Bar of Texas, 27th Annual Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course
September 2013
“Translating a Jury Verdict into a Judgment”
State Bar of Texas Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course
2012
“Formation of Judgments”
The University of Texas School of Law 2011 Conference on State and Federal Appeals
2011
“Arbitration Update”
State Bar of Texas Advanced Civil Trial Course
2011
“Iqbal: the Death of Notice Pleading in Federal Court?”
Moderated panel including The Honorable Patrick Higginbotham and The Honorable Royal Furgeson
University of Texas CLE, 20th Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals
2010
