For retired Alston & Bird partner Ben Johnson III, the starting point for any discussion of his career isn’t his major client relationships or his 11-year tenure as managing partner, but rather, his mentors. That list includes his father, Ben Johnson, Jr., dean at both Emory University School of Law and Georgia State University College of Law; Archibald Cox, for whom Johnson was a research assistant while at Harvard Law School; Griffin Bell, for whom he clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and Philip Alston, Jr., who took a special interest in Johnson when he joined the firm in 1971. “They provided an example with their integrity, work ethic, willingness to teach, and involvement in the larger community,” Johnson says.
These principles have defined Johnson’s career as a lawyer and guided him as managing partner of Alston & Bird from 1997 to 2008. During Johnson’s tenure, the firm stepped up its participation in pro bono work, fostered diversity, and emphasized work/life balance–all while expanding from a 305-lawyer Atlanta firm with a small Washington, D.C., office into a far-flung enterprise of more than 800 lawyers. For these accomplishments, in addition to his extensive community service, we award Johnson, 67, our Law Firm Distinguished Leader Award for 2010. “The values Ben talks about are values you would like to see in your firm,” says Richard Hays, Johnson’s successor as managing partner.
