Deirdre G. Johnson, Chairwoman

Deirdre Johnson is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Squire Patton Boggs. She has nearly two decades of experience handling disputes in the U.S., Bermuda, London and European markets in lawsuits and arbitration proceedings arising out of a broad range of claims and virtually all types of insurance and reinsurance agreements.

Ms. Johnson has represented insurers and reinsurers in coverage disputes involving variable annuity, general liability, surety, product liability, employment discrimination and environmental matters. She has handled dozens of reinsurance arbitrations in both domestic and international proceedings, including many Bermuda and London arbitrations arising out of a broad range of claim types. Ms. Johnson also represents mono-line insurers in disputes concerning financial guaranty contracts covering mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and other asset-backed securities. She also represents primary insurers and reinsurers in insolvency proceedings and has counseled insurers providing Directors and Officers / Errors and Omissions / Fidelity coverage to the mutual fund industry.

In addition, Ms. Johnson’s practice includes the defense of public corporations in class actions, derivative lawsuits, mergers and acquisitions litigation, SEC enforcement actions and OFAC proceedings. For example, she represented an international life reinsurer in a class action alleging material misstatements in financials concerning valuation allowances on deferred tax assets and the company’s Sarbanes-Oxley certifications. She has also led internal investigations of reserving practices employed by Health Maintenance Organizations and property/casualty reinsurers in response to shareholder demand letters.

Ms. Johnson is a frequent lecturer on insurance and reinsurance issues, including presentations at conferences sponsored by ARIAS•U.S., Mealey’s, the Practising Law Institute and the Reinsurance Association of America.

She is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (cum laude) and the University of Tennessee (B.A., with honors).