The Wagner Law Group | Est. 1996

Sophisticated Legal Solutions Boutique-Style Service

Biography

Johanna is an experienced litigator in disputes involving ERISA and employment benefits as well as employment, insurance, non-profit organizations, complex torts, nursing homes, and consumer and home improvement products liability. Her ERISA litigation experience includes ERISA preemption issues, benefit claims, plan benefit calculation matters, as well as breach of fiduciary duty claims. Johanna has also represented clients in litigation involving wrongful termination and retaliation claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act, unpaid wages and government contractor’s personnel files.

Johanna regularly advises clients, including both for-profit and non-profit organizations, on a variety of employment law matters. She provides counsel to employers regarding employment-related policies and agreements, including non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, severance agreements, and employee handbooks. Johanna advises non-profit organizations on a variety of legal and litigation matters including director’s and officer’s liability, human resources and personnel decisions, employment practices, contracts, First Amendment issues, collections, and insurance.

Johanna also uses her legal skills to support her community, serving on the Executive Committee and Board of Overseers of The Jewish Journal, a newspaper based on the North Shore of Massachusetts. 

Bar Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit

Education

  • Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts
    • J.D. - 2002
    • Honors: magna cum laude
  • The University of Pennsylvania
    • B.A., Bachelor of Arts - 1998
    • Honors: magna cum laude

Awards & Recognition

  • Best Lawyers in America® (2023 - 2025): Litigation – Labor and Employment
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers - General Litigation (2023, 2024)
  • Designated as “Top Lawyers 2022” by Boston magazine, under Attorneys for Non Profits
  • Selected as “Massachusetts Rising Star” by Super Lawyers (2005-2012)

Professional Associations

  • Massachusetts Bar Association, Member
  • Defense Research Institute, Member
  • Boston Bar Association, Member
  • The Jewish Journal, Executive Committee and Board of Overseers
  • Women’s Bar Association, Member
  • Attended IADC Annual Trial Academy at Stanford Law School (2018)

Publications & Presentations

PUBLICATIONS

  • Product Liability Desk Reference: A Fifty-State Compendium (2018-2021) – Contributing Author, Massachusetts Chapter.
  • Business Torts: A Fifty-State Guide (2018-2021) – Contributing Author, Massachusetts Chapter
  • Pregnancy Discrimination: A Defense Perspective” – Co-Author, MCLE – Massachusetts Employment Law (2015 to present).
  • The Uninjured Plaintiff:  New Frontiers of Liability –  Co-Author, , 71 Def. Couns. J. 262 (July 2004).
  • The New Star Chamber:  An Illusion of Due Process Standards at Private University Disciplinary Hearings – Author, 35 Suffolk. U. L. Rev. 169 (2001).

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