Kristen Johnson

Kristen works with the firm’s pro bono team to develop and manage Cooley’s pro bono practice, with a particular emphasis on racial justice. Kristen’s practice is focused primarily on litigation in trial and appellate courts. She has extensive experience litigating racial discrimination claims concerning voting rights, economic justice, criminal justice and educational equity.

Prior to joining Cooley, Kristen was assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. At LDF, Kristen’s portfolio included civil rights advocacy (litigation, policy and public education) on behalf of Black communities across the US. Before joining LDF, Kristen was a litigation associate in the New York office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where she earned the prestigious Fried Frank/LDF Fellowship.

After graduating from UCLA School of Law with specializations in critical race theory and public interest law & policy, Kristen served as a law clerk to the late Judge Harry Pregerson of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. During law school, she was the first Black person elected to serve as editor in chief of the UCLA Law Review (Vol. 60).