Legal Limelight: William P. Johnson

William P. Johnson, Dean, Saint Louis University School of Law

After 12 years with the Saint Louis University School of Law — the final seven of them as dean — William Johnson will step down in the summer of 2024.

A Midwesterner with an international outlook, Johnson has spent much of his career teaching at home and abroad, first as an assistant professor of law at the University of North Dakota and, since around the time he joined SLU in 2012, also as a visiting professor at law schools in France, Germany and Lithuania. His courses are typically on international business and commercial law.

Johnson was a commercial transactions attorney before going down the academic path, and his research has been focused on addressing the challenging question arising when different bodies of law are relevant for the same international commercial transaction; in particular, he has become an expert in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, CISG, which established the framework for much of the world’s border-crossing commerce.

It appears Johnson, who has not announced what’s next for him, will end his time as dean on a high note. First-time bar exam takers from SLU Law posted the school’s best results in more than a decade this year, with a passage rate of 94.6 percent for the July exam.

When did you decide to become an attorney and why?

As a kid who grew up on a modest sheep and cattle farm in northern Minnesota, I had never met a lawyer or a judge until I started law school. Most of the kids in my rural community never considered college, much less professional or graduate school. And law school was not part of my imagination as a young person. But several classmates and university professors planted seeds over time that eventually germinated. For example, during an Italian class in which the students were required to debate an identified topic, I carefully built an argument the professor apparently found persuasive. She stopped the class, turned to me, switched to English and said, “Have you ever considered going to law school?” I was flattered and laughed but didn’t believe at the time that law school was in my future. Eventually, after working in higher education for a few years and starting my family, that changed. I took the LSAT, and I rather unexpectedly ended up in law school. It turns out that law has been quite a good fit for my skills and interests, and I remain grateful to that professor and others who saw something in me I had not yet seen in myself.

How did you come to be in your particular practice?

Before becoming an academic, I practiced for six years with a large business law firm in Milwaukee. I focused my practice on commercial and corporate law and, in particular, on international business transactions. Now I teach courses in international business law and focus my research on distinctive challenges that arise when different bodies of domestic, foreign, and international law are potentially applicable to the same cross-border transaction. This international focus reflects a lifelong love. As a child, I was deeply interested in language and culture. I began studying languages other than English as soon as I was able to do so in my small-town high school, studying both German and Spanish in high school and German, Russian, and Italian in college. I learned everything I could about transnational law while a law student and studied abroad for one semester in law school. I then threw myself into international transactional work immediately upon joining the business law firm where I practiced, and I loved it. I was happiest when negotiating a transaction that involved multiple non-U.S. jurisdictions, with lawyers and clients across the table who spoke a language other than English as their first language. I continue to delight in that sort of international engagement today.

What advice do you have for young lawyers?

I frequently urge students to think back on the day they learned that they had been admitted to law school, when they suddenly knew that they would be given the extraordinary opportunity to begin a journey with the law. I ask them to remember how hopeful they were at that moment and to think about what it was that motivated them and that excited them about becoming a lawyer. I advise my students to cling to that excitement and motivation. I encourage them never to let go of those things about which the student is most passionate. The practice of law, while exhilarating and often highly satisfying, can be utterly exhausting and at times, even discouraging. But when we are focused on things that we love, things that we are passionate about, and things that motivate us, it can make all the difference. It has certainly made all the difference for me in my career.

What is your biggest accomplishment this year? And what are your future plans after stepping down as dean?

Serving as dean for SLU LAW for the past seven years has been a dream. Until it unexpectedly happened, I never could have imagined that my career would bring me to this point or that I would have the opportunity to serve as dean for this amazing law school. The wonder I felt when first appointed has never disappeared, and my experience has filled me with gratitude for my entire tenure as dean — gratitude for the opportunity to serve, for my colleagues and our students, for the support of the bench and bar in this region, which has been really extraordinary, and for the calling that I feel to seek justice, especially racial justice. I am proud of the fact that SLU LAW has such a deep and meaningful commitment to justice in St. Louis, and many of us have worked hard to make that so. I am proud of the fact that SLU LAW has strong and deep ties with individuals and organizations in the region seeking justice. That has not happened by accident. There is still a great deal of work to do, but it is time to pass the baton to the next dean of this law school, and I am excited about the possibilities as we take steps to identify that dean.

As for me, my plans are still developing, but I know for sure that it will involve crossing more than one ocean, as I embrace that part of me that has enjoyed language and culture and international engagement since I was a child.

What has been your favorite moment as an attorney?

As a practicing attorney, one memory that stands out took place in the lobby of a hotel in a city in Central America at the end of an incredibly difficult week of negotiating that had resulted in almost no progress. Both sides in this hydroelectric power project, tired and frustrated, ended up together in the hotel lobby, enjoying cocktails and food and the hypnotizing sounds of live music, as two guitarists played Latin music softly in the background. The members of the group let down their guard temporarily. We got to know one another on a personal level. We shared photos. We told stories. We laughed. And a wall began to crumble. The very next day, the negotiations turned a major corner. There was still a great deal of negotiating to do, but that evening was the beginning of the progress that eventually led to closing that deal, and it was magical.

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